College Visions: Empowering Low-Income, First-Generation Students
Title
College Visions: Empowering Low-Income, First-Generation Students
Creator
College Visions
Language
English
Text
College Visions empowers low-income and first-generation college-bound students to realize the promise of higher education by providing advising and resources to promote college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. College Visions advances equal access to educational opportunities in historically under-served communities.
As we all know, there have been many new challenges that none of us could have prepared for - challenges that we are still working through today. The biggest monster has been the global pandemic. At College Visions, we work with the populations most impacted by COVID-19. As we continue to support low-income, first-generation students through their college applications and through college completion, we have seen that our work this year will involve more than academic support.
We are seeing our students and their families lose their jobs and not know how they would afford rent the next month. We are seeing our students have panic attacks due to fear of the virus. We are hearing the fear in students' voices, from being essential workers and processing deaths. We are hearing the stress in students' voices as they balanced online learning, supporting their younger siblings, and finding ways to support their families financially. For low-income students and their families, stressors have increased in multiple areas; they can best tell you about their experiences:
“COVID made it very hard to focus on my studies. Classes are allotted an hour, but you’re also teaching yourself the content, while taking the time to do the homework, so it’s like two hours of studying for one class. Factoring in course load of the fall semester, which is like 3-4 classes, you’re talking about 8 hours of classwork on top of Zoom classes. It’s pretty stressful because then I also have to accommodate my schedule to my brother’s schedule, who is special needs, because he’s also doing online learning. There were times where we’re both in Zoom class, his teacher says something that he doesn’t understand, so I have to step away from my own class to them help him. It’s not something that I’m upset about, but it is an issue that I then have to accommodate for by studying an extra 30-45 minutes.” – Ariel T., RIC ‘22
“I work at Bradley Hospital in the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Unit (CADD) in residential. Things have changed for me during the pandemic because I have had to work extra shifts, and homeschool our residents. I have also been more exposed since the pandemic began because as other staff have gotten sick from COVID-19, I’ve had to cover shifts at other houses. They have been in crisis because they miss seeing their parents and some residents do not understand why they can’t see their families. It’s very difficult to risk our own health and our own family’s health by going to work at COVID-19 exposed programs.” – Maria L., RIC 21
Despite all that, we see the persistence and resilience in our students. It is clear that no matter what life throws at them, they are here to fight for the wellbeing of their families, fight for their right to higher education, and fight for a more sustainable future for themselves and generations after them. As students carry all of this on their shoulders, CV exists to make things a little easier for them. With the support of their community, CV students navigate challenges and kept working toward educational goals. 97% of the 12th graders CV worked with during 2020 enrolled in college compared with only 54% of 12th graders in urban RI. CV’s 6-year graduation rate rose to 68%, significantly higher than the 37% of low-income students in RI who earn a degree within 6 years.
And, with continued community support and College Visions’ guidance, CV students will be ready and prepared for any obstacles they may face on their path to degree attainment.
For more information, please visit: www.collegevisions.org
As we all know, there have been many new challenges that none of us could have prepared for - challenges that we are still working through today. The biggest monster has been the global pandemic. At College Visions, we work with the populations most impacted by COVID-19. As we continue to support low-income, first-generation students through their college applications and through college completion, we have seen that our work this year will involve more than academic support.
We are seeing our students and their families lose their jobs and not know how they would afford rent the next month. We are seeing our students have panic attacks due to fear of the virus. We are hearing the fear in students' voices, from being essential workers and processing deaths. We are hearing the stress in students' voices as they balanced online learning, supporting their younger siblings, and finding ways to support their families financially. For low-income students and their families, stressors have increased in multiple areas; they can best tell you about their experiences:
“COVID made it very hard to focus on my studies. Classes are allotted an hour, but you’re also teaching yourself the content, while taking the time to do the homework, so it’s like two hours of studying for one class. Factoring in course load of the fall semester, which is like 3-4 classes, you’re talking about 8 hours of classwork on top of Zoom classes. It’s pretty stressful because then I also have to accommodate my schedule to my brother’s schedule, who is special needs, because he’s also doing online learning. There were times where we’re both in Zoom class, his teacher says something that he doesn’t understand, so I have to step away from my own class to them help him. It’s not something that I’m upset about, but it is an issue that I then have to accommodate for by studying an extra 30-45 minutes.” – Ariel T., RIC ‘22
“I work at Bradley Hospital in the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Unit (CADD) in residential. Things have changed for me during the pandemic because I have had to work extra shifts, and homeschool our residents. I have also been more exposed since the pandemic began because as other staff have gotten sick from COVID-19, I’ve had to cover shifts at other houses. They have been in crisis because they miss seeing their parents and some residents do not understand why they can’t see their families. It’s very difficult to risk our own health and our own family’s health by going to work at COVID-19 exposed programs.” – Maria L., RIC 21
Despite all that, we see the persistence and resilience in our students. It is clear that no matter what life throws at them, they are here to fight for the wellbeing of their families, fight for their right to higher education, and fight for a more sustainable future for themselves and generations after them. As students carry all of this on their shoulders, CV exists to make things a little easier for them. With the support of their community, CV students navigate challenges and kept working toward educational goals. 97% of the 12th graders CV worked with during 2020 enrolled in college compared with only 54% of 12th graders in urban RI. CV’s 6-year graduation rate rose to 68%, significantly higher than the 37% of low-income students in RI who earn a degree within 6 years.
And, with continued community support and College Visions’ guidance, CV students will be ready and prepared for any obstacles they may face on their path to degree attainment.
For more information, please visit: www.collegevisions.org
Date
Fall 2020
Location
131 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903
Collection
Citation
Becca Bender, “College Visions: Empowering Low-Income, First-Generation Students,” Rhode Island COVID-19 Archive, accessed November 10, 2024, https://ricovidarchive.org/index.php/items/show/1671.
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