by Daniel Fusch, Academic Impressions
A few years ago, National Louis University in Chicago, which has historically served adult working students, has launched the new Harrison Professional Pathways Program, which provides access to bachelor's degrees for traditional-aged high school graduates from all socioeconomic and academic backgrounds, but aims in particular to increase college access and success for first-generation, often low-income students. Priced at only $10,000 per year, the program is remarkable both in its outcomes and in the intentionality of its design. The curriculum, student support, and the financial model were all designed deliberately to meet the needs of this student demographic.
The program was launched in response to a low (14%) four-year college completion rate for Chicago Public high school freshmen. This caught our attention; here in Denver, CO, where Academic Impressions is based, the four-year college graduation rate for Denver Public Schools graduates is just 9%. These low percentages are red flags, and when colleges can innovate to answer this societal need, that is a clear win. It takes courage on the part of the institution's leadership to create the space needed for that innovation and to dedicate institutional resources toward it, and it takes intentionality to do so in a way that is sustainable. Yet National Louis University has done so very successfully with very few resources, and much of what they have done is replicable for other institutions.
To learn more about this, we spoke recently with Aarti Dhupelia, the institution's vice president of strategic initiatives.
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LEARN MORE...
Hear from Aarti Dhupelia at National Louis University in our digital recording The $10,000-a-Year Bachelor's Degree that Works. Get an insider perspective of the "nuts and bolts" of running this comprehensive program, and leave with considerations for how the various aspects of this program can be applied and scaled at your own institution.