New college program hopes to use flexibility, tutoring session to get more graduates
Laptops open and logged in, DeShawn Lindsay and Raylynn Henry are ready to buckle down on that day's project — an online module that, when completed, will put Lindsay one step closer to his college degree.
After a brief tutorial on how Lindsay can pin to his dashboard the various modules he needs to complete, the duo each pull up the day's session on their laptop.
Henry, the director of degree attainment at the nonprofit Degree Forward, reads Lindsay the writing prompt for this sessions: "What types of (work) culture work best for you?"
Lindsay, who is role playing an employee of a firm tasked with writing an email to his boss about improving workplace culture, asks, "Should I list them?"
"Yes," Henry responds. "This is where you just organize your thoughts so when you write the paper you can come back and use it."
The pair are part of a new push to increase the number of people in Michigan, and especially in Detroit, with a completed college degree. A new nonprofit, the Diploma Equity Project, has been set up to work on two tracks. The first is trying to tighten ties between metro Detroit universities, high schools and community leaders to smooth the transition from high school to college. The second track is working on a new college model to help those who don't have a college degree, especially those who might have had some higher education, a degree.
The group is headed by three experienced education leaders: Doug Ross, who, in addition to serving in a variety of roles in state government over the past several decades, also founded University Prep and Promise Schools charter school networks in Detroit; Melissa Hamann, who has a lengthy history of working on education reform and helped Ross start the Promise School network, and Danielle North, who previously worked as the deputy director of charter schools at Detroit Public Schools Community District and is in charge of Degree Forward, which is partnering with DEP.
The five-year graduation rate from Michigan universities and colleges for white students is 70% compared with 33% for Black students, the group says. Eliminating the gap would help more minority students escape poverty and support economic development.
Degree Forward is based on Duet, a Boston nonprofit that operates a hybrid college program. Degree Forward offers student enrollment in Southern New Hampshire University's competency-based online degree programs. A portion of the 2021-22 tuition — it costs $2,332 per term or $168 per term after a student's maximum Pell Grants are applied — helps fund individual tutoring sessions.
A one-on-one tutoring session is what brought Henry and Lindsay together on a quiet early summer morning in Detroit.
When Lindsay graduated from high school, he was soured on school. He didn't like just sitting and listening to lectures.
He worked with a nonprofit for a while and then for Avalon Breads, where he is now. But going to college on top of working wasn't realistic, he thought. Then he signed up for the Degree Forward program, which offers the flexibility he needs. He has weekly meetings with a tutor that fit into his schedule and does the other work when he is free from other responsibilities.
His modules have him writing papers for an employer; building PowerPoints including talking points and other skills he hopes to use when he graduates and pursues a career in public relations.
"I never really was into sitting and listening to someone talk," he said. "This is great because I'm working on projects."
Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj. Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Diploma Equity Project, Degree Forward partner to get more graduates
