(Newark, NJ) The Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC) is the recipient of a $500,000 capacity-building grant, to be paid over three years, from the Prudential Foundation, the grant-making arm of Prudential Financial, Inc. The grant is a renewal of funding Prudential initially awarded to NCLC in 2016.
NCLC is a citywide initiative established in 2015 to help build Newark’s college-going culture by ensuring that all Newarkers have the tools and resources needed to matriculate at and graduate from college. Funds from Prudential’s renewal grant will be used to enable NCLC to maintain a competent team of committed individuals with expertise across a number of critical areas who are passionate about helping NCLC achieve its goal of increasing the proportion of Newark residents with a degree or credential beyond high school to 25 percent by the year 2025 and ultimately sustaining Newark’s college-going culture beyond that.
In 2016, Prudential supported the expansion of NCLC’s capacity by funding the hiring of its first full-time executive director, Reginald Lewis. The initial funding from Prudential was essential to help build an emerging infrastructure in support of a citywide agenda for post-secondary attainment. The executive director’s immediate priorities included the need to define strategic priorities; develop pre-college programming; create capacity to collect and analyze data; and enhance NCLC’s visibility, outreach, and public relations. Prudential’s renewed support enables NCLC to maintain continuity of leadership to build on the gains achieved across these areas since 2016.
In 2018, NCLC launched a series of public conversations throughout Newark to address topics and issues derived from Post-Secondary Outcomes of Newark High School Graduates, a report produced by NCLC in collaboration with the Rutgers University–Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration that examines what college-going looks like for nearly 13,500 of Newark’s high school graduates. Covering approximately 85 percent of all Newark high school students who graduated between 2011 and 2016, the report focuses on college enrollment, persistence, and completion rates.
Current projects include NCLC’s Dual Enrollment Initiative, which allows Newark high school students to take credit-bearing college courses on the Rutgers University–Newark campus. NCLC arranged for up to 90 high school students to take classes on campus in the spring 2020 semester. The first district-wide dual enrollment agreement was brokered by NCLC with the Newark Public Schools for the spring 2019 semester.
In October 2019, NCLC launched the Newark FAFSA Challenge in collaboration with the United Way, the Newark Public Library, the Newark Board of Education, and the other K-12 partners. The Newark FAFSA Challenge is a citywide effort to encourage more Newark high school seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The challenge aims to increase the city’s FAFSA completion rate to 70 percent by June 2020, 10-percentage points higher than the June 2019 rate of 60 percent.
“We are grateful to the Prudential Foundation for their continued commitment to NCLC and to Newark’s revitalization. In Prudential we have not only found a devoted funder, but a profound thought partner that has been critical to our continued efforts to improve post-secondary outcomes for the city. We look forward to sustaining this work with Prudential’s crucial support,” said Lewis.
NCLC Executive Director promotes the Newark FAFSA challenge and other NCLC partnership activities on the Giblin Report with Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin.
The Newark FAFSA Challenge is a citywide effort to help more Newark, NJ high school seniors complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Only about 60% of Newark high school seniors completed the FAFSA by June 2019, leaving behind millions of dollars in state and federal financial aid. Our goal is to increase the percentage of Newark high school seniors completing the FAFSA to 70% by June 2020.
Click here to watch a new video promoting the Newark FAFSA Challenge, featuring NCLC partners and students.
Opportunity Youth Network students pose for a photo on their first day of class at Rutgers-Newark (January 21, 2020)
(Newark, NJ) — In its ongoing effort to expand access to dual enrollment, the Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC) has arranged for approximately 90 seats in Rutgers University-Newark’s spring 2020 courses for Newark high school students.
Dual enrollment is a pre-college preparation strategy that allows students to take credit-bearing college courses while still in high school. Among the potential benefits for students who take dual enrollment courses are increased likelihood of graduating high school, enrolling in college, and earning a college degree.
“Dual enrollment at Rutgers University-Newark complements NCLC’s objectives in achieving citywide impact by creating viable college pathways and supporting the development of a consistent college-going culture across all high schools,” said NCLC Executive Director Reginald Lewis.
More than half of the 11th and 12th graders who are taking three-credit courses on campus this spring come from Newark’s 14 public high schools. NCLC brokered the first district-wide agreement between Newark Public Schools and Rutgers University-Newark for the spring 2019 semester.
“Dual enrollment is an incredible opportunity that provides our students with access to a college education while still in high school. This makes them more marketable and prepared when applying to college upon graduation,” said Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León. “The credits earned during this experience will give our students a leg up on their peers once they actually attend college. I could not be more proud of our partnership with NCLC and Rutgers-Newark as it continues to bear fruit for our students, our city, and beyond.”
The remainder of Newark high school students participating in dual enrollment at Rutgers-Newark this semester attend Great Oaks Legacy Charter School, the Opportunity Youth Network (YouthBuild Newark and LEAD Charter School), St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, and for the first time, People’s Preparatory Charter School.
Notable about the dual enrollment process at Rutgers-Newark is that high school students attend classes on campus alongside current Rutgers undergraduate students, rather than taking online courses or courses offered on high school premises. Physically being on a college campus is a key element for high school students to envision themselves as college students in the future.
“I am excited about learning how to manage a business and speak more professionally. I believe this course will prepare me for the responsibilities of college and how to manage my time. I am excited to be on campus and immersed in the college experience,” said Abigail Crucey, an 11th grader at Weequahic High School who is taking Leadership for Service Professionals this semester.
While a few students are taking classes at the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), most are taking elective courses at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences–Newark (SASN). The two SPAA courses offered to dual enrollment students are Leadership for Service Professionals and a course taught by Lewis, Servant Leadership in the Public Sector. Lewis also serves as an assistant professor of professional practice at SPAA.
Among the SASN courses offered are Principles of Psychology, Race and Ethnicity in the US, Portuguese Literature in English Translation, Everyday Data, History of Newark, and a Colloquium in Arts, Culture, and Media.
“Working with these combined classes is without doubt one of the most rewarding experiences of my college teaching career,” said Ian Watson, Director of the Theatre Program and the Urban Civic Initiative at Rutgers-Newark who teaches the Arts, Culture, and Media Colloquium. “Within the first two to three classes the distinctions between undergraduates and high schoolers has vanished…high school students realize a college career is a genuine possibility for them. The Rutgers students walk away with a better understanding of the community around them and how much they have in common with their fellow citizens who have not had the same opportunities they have had.”
High school students get on-going support throughout the semester to ensure that they are successful in their courses. Both SASN and SPAA have assigned assistant deans to provide academic advisement to the students as they progress in their classes. Students also go through an orientation before the semester starts, a mid-semester check in, and a post-semester focus group to inform future improvements to the program.
Throughout the semester, NCLC primarily serves as a bridge between the schools and Rutgers-Newark staff and faculty, ensuring that parents, school-based staff, and university staff are coordinated in the success of each student.
Housed at the Cornwall Center at Rutgers University-Newark, NCLC’s goal is to ensure that Newark students have the opportunity, information, and access to go to college, afford college, complete college, and ultimately secure gainful employment. Through dual enrollment and other initiatives that equip students to succeed, NCLC helps Newark build and sustain a college-going culture.
A Newark student receives assistance filling out the federal aid application Tuesday at Barringer High School.
PHOTO CREDIT:Devna Bose/Chalkbeat
Filling out the federal student aid application is challenging even for savvy parents. For those who aren’t native English speakers, the complicated form can be mind-boggling. Thanks to volunteers and an organized campaign in Newark, more families can now tackle the form.
The Newark FAFSA Challengeis a collaborative effort that local organizations, government officials, and school administrators launched in October to help students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which makes them eligible to receive federal grants, work-study, and loans. Last year, 2,094 of Newark’s 3,519 graduating students completed their applications.
“I know all my friends want to have a post-secondary education, and I know it’s a struggle for them to think about going to college because they don’t think they can get past the high school phase,“ said senior Yinett Rodriguez, who volunteered at an event at Barringer High last week to help students fill out the FAFSA. “Most of the students here don’t speak much English. I’m bilingual. I always encourage them to complete their FAFSA anyway.”
Only about 35% of Newark high school seniors had completed the FAFSA as of January, said Reginald Lewis, executive director of the Newark City of Learning Collaborative, one of the organizers of the challenge. He hopes that percentage will get closer to the campaign’s goal of 70% with other events scheduled in coming months.
Nationally, about 60% of students completed the form last year, while Newark Public Schools had an average completion rate of 63.3%. Campaign organizers hope that helping students will result in a 10% increase in completion rates in Newark by June.
“It’s very clear that high schools with high rates of students of color and low-income students have low FAFSA filing rates,” said Ellie Bruecker, a fifth-year doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who researches FAFSA filing. “Lots of those students are eligible but don’t fill out their FAFSA. Filing rates are higher at wealthier schools, where they might not be eligible for federal aid.”
More than one out of four Newark residents lives in poverty. Poor students also are far less likely than their wealthy peers to earn college degrees, and just 19% of Newarkers have college degrees, compared with 45% of New Jersey residents and 40% of U.S. adults.
Students often don’t complete their federal aid application because they think they’re ineligible for financial aid or don’t know how to complete the form. And even after students submit their application, problems can arise, especially if they are from immigrant families.
“If something is unclear in your FAFSA, you’re flagged to verify it,” Bruecker said. “That process has to be more challenging to verify for students who don’t have parents who attended college in the United States or students with parents who didn’t complete their taxes.”
“The challenge we’re having right now is that I think there are a lot of parents who come to the United States from other countries who don’t have some paperwork,” said Barringer parent liaison Charles Shepherd. “So students don’t have the information or proper documents to fill the forms out.”
He said about 50 of the 450 seniors at Barringer have started filling out their federal aid application for the next school year.
Even though the FAFSA is offered in Spanish, most of the six families who attended Tuesday’s event needed translators to complete their application. The Newark City of Learning Collaborative trained bilingual volunteers to help students, Lewis said.
“The form is really complicated for native English speakers. It’s complicated for me, and I’ve been studying it for five years,” Bruecker said. “Trying to navigate it when English is not your native language I would imagine is incredibly difficult.”
