A Trend Toward Excellence

New England Journal of Higher Education, The, Spring 2007 by Cathcart, Mary R

CONNECTION'S annual "Trends & Indicators in Higher Education" issue is so rich with trend data and analysis that readers may forget the human faces behind the numbers.

Last month, the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) recognized some of the people and programs working to point those trends in a positive direction with its fifth annual New England Higher Education Excellence Awards.

Only about 75 percent of New Englanders finish high school in four years, and less than 60 percent of those graduates enroll in college the following fall. The pipeline is especially leaky for nontraditional students. One NEBHE Excellence Award winner, the University of Maine's Onward Program, has helped low-income, first-generation or disabled Maine students overcome college readiness challenges for more than three decades. The Onward Program has helped thousands of Maine students develop academic skills and then transfer to the major of their choice anywhere in the university.

A former Onward student named Al told us he grew up "in a sea of alcoholism, chronic mental illness and violence," and thought that "universities were for smart kids from people of means, not folks like us." Al was seeking work as a janitor when a friend handed him information about Onward and changed the course of his life. He went on to earn degrees in forest management and engineering and an MBA, and today he enjoys a successful career. "Much of who I am can be attributed to the love, attention, patience and support of the staff" of Onward, Al says.

The data in this issue of CONNECTION also show that fully 280,000 students attend New England colleges on a part-time basis, many pursuing degrees while they work and build families. Another Excellence Award recipient from UMaine, the Frederick Hutchinson Center, provides high-quality undergraduate, graduate and professional development education, as well as cultural opportunities, in a supportive and flexible environment for people on Maine's Midcoast. The center now serves more than 20,000 students. The local newspaper, The Village Soup, noted last month: "Whether you're a stay-at-home mom, a full-time laborer, retired and in search of something new, or a student with a high school diploma in hand, the Hutchinson Center has something to offer you."

Just seven years old, the Hutchinson Center offers a weekend master's degree program in social work with a nontraditional format allowing students to earn their degrees close to home or work and at convenient times. The center recently added a bachelor's in social work and a master's in special education as well as evening courses leading to a UMaine certificate in tourism. Last fall, the center initiated the Black Bear Bridge Program, which offers the first two years of a bachelor's degree, and hundreds of retirees attend its Senior College.

Unfortunately, the data also tell us that college costs gobble up a large and growing share of family income, especially for low-income New England families. The winner of the 2007 Massachusetts State Merit Award knows quite a bit about that. Fall River optometrist Irving Fradkin launched the grassroots scholarship effort called "Dollars for Scholars" in 1957, with the very first dollar donated by Eleanor Roosevelt. The organization he founded has grown into one of the largest nonprofit, educational support foundations in the country. Scholarship America, which encompasses Dollars for Scholars and several other programs, has awarded nearly $1.5 billion to 1.5 million students over its history. Through it all, Fradkin's dream and purpose have endured-giving America's youth the opportunity for postsecondary education by reducing dropout rates, prison populations, drug abuse and crime and by building a better America, one community at a time.

All the 2007 NEBHE award winners have contributed to New England higher education in special ways: former U.S. Sen. James Jeffords' landmark legislation for students with disabilities; John Silber's early work on integration in Texas and transformation of Boston University into a world-class research university; Southern New Hampshire University's groundbreaking School of Community Economic Development; Gov. James Douglas's leadership in Vermont and Michael Audet's leadership of Vermont State Colleges; Ingrid Lemaire's dedication to college planning for New Hampshire students and Peter V. Sampo's thoughtful leadership of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts; and the remarkable international efforts of the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women and the Baden-Württemberg Connecticut Higher Education Exchange. They are just a few of the hard-working people and programs behind the positive trends in New England higher education.

Mary R. Cathcart is chair of the New England Board of Higher Education. She is a senior policy associate at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and former four-term Maine state senator. Email: maruorono@verizon.net.