Students who remain longer in school, and particularly those who earn their degrees, enter the workforce with the skills necessary to achieve lasting economic security and independence. In 2008, seeking to increase access to existing resources that promote retention and graduation, we worked with SingleStop USA to create a model program at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, supplementing access to financial support with legal and financial counseling for low-income, high-need students. Leveraging our support and the program’s outstanding results, SingleStop is now working with CUNY administration and individual community college presidents to expand this initiative to all the remaining CUNY campuses.
SingleStop bridges the information gap separating low-income youth and families from life-changing, mostly federal resources --- such as food stamps, health care, child care and tax credits that are too often untapped. Access to these basic resources increases the likelihood that a young person will be able to attend college and obtain a degree. In addition, community colleges are one of the most effective vehicles for lifting people out of poverty. They make college-level education accessible to low-income, high-need youth. For example, one recent study showed that a person born into the lowest economic quintile has an 84% chance of rising into a higher quintile if s/he graduates from college, and a 62% chance of joining the middle or upper-middle class. Completion of an Associate's Degree results in 15% higher annual earnings for men and 48% higher annual earnings for women. Even without graduating, simply staying longer in community college leads to higher earning. For those workers with some college, the median annual earnings are about $5,000 greater than those with just a high school diploma.
Unfortunately, drop-out rates among low-income students remain overwhelmingly high. Six years after starting at a two-year institution, nearly half of all students (45.2%) drop out without attaining a degree. And twenty-nine percent of community college students have household incomes under $20,000. But case studies have shown that financial interventions, such as those provided by SingleStop, can increase community college students' retention rates by as much as 70%.
