New initiative pairs Calvin with community leaders to make college more accessible
On Thursday, September 18, Calvin College leaders joined with representatives from the city of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Public Schools and seven colleges and universities to sign a community compact at a press conference at City Hall in downtown Grand Rapids.
The signing of the compact serves as the official launch of Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell’s “To College, Through College” Initiative. The initiative is dedicated to the mission of increasing rates of credential and college degree attainment for all persons, particularly first-generation college students, low-income, minority and other historically underrepresented populations.
“We must give our all collectively to ensure equal opportunity for our city residents who want a college degree,” said Mayor Heartwell. “Our city’s economic vitality and future depends on it!”
Accepting the challenge
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently revealed that the United States ranks 10th among developed countries in the percentage of its adults ages 25 to 34 with college degrees. More than half of the young adults in the leading countries (Canada, South Korea and Japan) have earned college degrees compared to less than 40-percent in the U.S.
The Lumina Foundation has provided funding to 75 cities (including Grand Rapids) over a three-year period to promote a metro-strategy in advancing post-secondary success.
Calvin College president Michael Le Roy is thrilled about this new initiative and says it fits within the college’s current five-year strategic plan to improve retention and graduation rates of all students.
“We are encouraged by the work that faculty and staff are already doing to make a Calvin education more accessible and to ensure this education results in a degree. And, we are constantly striving to improve,” said Le Roy. “By signing this compact, we are committing to an investment in student success. To witness the city, Grand Rapids Public Schools and the local higher education community in partnership is essential if we are to achieve this goal.”
Building on past successes
Calvin College currently offers a wide variety of programs that create access to and awareness of higher education. The Entrada Scholars Program—a month-long summer college immersion experience—introduces ethnic minority students to higher ed. Ninety-five percent of students who have gone through the program and have completed high school have pursued some form of higher education. The college has also been involved in numerous schools in Kent County for more than two decades through its Excel ACT tutoring and mentoring program.
Nygil Likely, the associate director of pre-college programs at Calvin, says that the mayor’s new initiative complements the work already being done at Calvin to come alongside students and families who are less familiar and sometimes intimidated by the landscape of higher education.
“This initiative is very important to the long-term future of our state and our country to have better prepared students that go into higher education and are successful and then are able to come out and contribute to the communities in which they live,” said Likely.
Exploring new opportunities
Likely said, in addition to the plethora of programs Calvin already offers to students interested in learning more about higher education, he and his team are also strategically focusing on working with students early on through middle school programs and summer camps:
“We are trying to get them acclimated, exposed to higher ed at an earlier age with the hopes when making a decision that Calvin is on their mind, that college is on their mind."
The national goal through the Lumina Foundation is 60% of the adult population having a credential, associates degree or higher by 2025.