This community college is having none of the inequitable economic recovery
Broward College is leveraging partnerships to offer free education and wraparound support for its most vulnerable community members. They believe their model is replicable across other community colleges.
Source: Broward College’s Isabel Gonzalez
May 5, 2021
The American economy is looking better and better. Growth is up, unemployment is down, stocks are rising, and jobs are coming back as more Americans are vaccinated.
But the recovery could be “K-shaped,” splitting into two paths where the more educated and wealthy do better, but the working poor, especially women and people of color, do worse.
The K-shaped recovery can be reflected in higher education through the steep Spring 2021 declines in community college enrollment, particularly at the certificate, associate’s, and bachelor’s level among Native American, Latino, and Black students. Master’s and doctoral degree enrollment, on the other hand, is actually up (including among racial minorities).
The gap between the haves and have-nots seems to grow, but Broward College located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is having none of it.
Broward launched what it describes as an “expanded way of doing business” called “Broward UP (Unlimited Potential)™” to expand access, attainment, and mobility among the most underserved in its community. Broward wants to bring about an equitable recovery.
Broward County, home to nearly two million people and enjoys an impressive three percent unemployment rate, but Broward College realized that unemployment looked very different for its lower-income neighborhoods. Broward UP communities are located in six zip codes where unemployment hovers around nine to fifteen percent (up to thirty percent in some neighborhoods). Communities in all six zip codes were majority-minority.
And in terms of educational attainment? Forty percent of adults in Florida aged 25–64 have associate’s degrees and up. Broward County fares even better at 44 percent. But in the six zip codes Broward identified, the education attainment rate was only twenty-seven percent.
Before Broward UP, only 3,000 of Broward College’s 60,000 students came from the six zip codes. After Broward UP, the college doubled the number of residents served, significantly expanded its footprint and its strategies for serving the most vulnerable students through wraparound services. Broward says its model is replicable for other community colleges. I dug deeper to learn more.
Read the full article for free on New America’s Ed Central: https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/this-community-college-is-having-none-of-the-inequitable-economic-recovery/
Like what you read? Follow Shalin Jyotishi on Twitter and LinkedIn @ShalinJyotishi
