Dive Brief:
- The College of Staten Island has increased enrollment 15% since it started operating a shuttle from the ferry station to campus, but the numbers of minority students have gone up much more dramatically.
- Politico reports the number of black and Latino students jumped 49% and 43%, respectively, as prospective students in New York’s boroughs and lower-income areas of Staten Island itself have discovered access through the reliable buses.
- While others schools have also found success with shuttles, the cost can sometimes be prohibitive — the end of a grant at the College of Staten Island and state budget cuts put the $800,000-per-year program at risk, but students approved a $40-per-semester fee to help cover it.
Dive Insight:
Colleges can expand outreach and scholarship programs to try to reach low-income, first-generation, and black and Latino students, but if they aren’t going to live on campus and otherwise do not have a reliable way to get to class, the other strategies for increasing access are moot. Many students still spend hours getting to the Staten Island campus, combining New York City transit with the college’s shuttle, but the final leg of their journey takes half the time and is practically guaranteed to get them to class on time, which, for some of the students Politico spoke with, makes the effort worthwhile. Especially when an additional fee can be covered by financial aid, it is an option worth considering.