On August 12th, Forest Hill Connection published the op-ed, “UDC is focused on the wrong students.” UDC President Ronald Mason, Jr. wrote this response:
UDC is the state higher education system for the District of Columbia. It serves the same role for the District as the Maryland system does for Maryland. We are responsible for all of the District’s public higher education needs. The Fall 2019 enrollment in our academic programs, which lead to Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees, was 4,456. Some 2,154 of that number were full-time students, while 2,302 were part-time. Their average age was 28. Fifty-nine percent were African American, 14 percent were Hispanic, 8 percent were international, and 6 percent were white. Fifty-five percent of our First-Time-in-College students came to us from District high schools.
We also provided workforce training to 2,168 students free of charge. Ninety-nine percent of those students were DC residents, and over 75 percent were from DC high schools. Their average age was 36. Counting both workforce training and degree-seeking students, UDC enrolled a total of over 6,500 students. Thousands more accessed our Land-Grant certificate programs, in areas such as urban gardening and food handling.
We differ from other state systems in significant ways that impact our enrollment. Foremost among them relates to the demographic changes mentioned in the article, which in 2000 led the federal government to institute a program that pays for DC high school graduates to attend any public university in the nation, every Historically Black College and University in the nation, and every university in the District. It is called the Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG). The only institution in any of those three categories where the program prohibits students from utilizing the grant funds is UDC. TAG has played a large role in the reduction in UDC enrollment.
The tape of the Compliance Hearing mentioned in the article shows that Chairman Mendelson and I discussed enrollment for over 10 minutes. We discussed our initiatives to recruit, retain, and graduate students. Enrollment has remained relatively stable since my arrival in 2015 (4,606 to 4,456), but there is more to the story. The number of first time in college full-time students enrolling at UDC has doubled, as has the number of high performers (3.0 GPA and above) from DC public and public charter schools. Our retention rate also has improved by 10 percent in the same period.
We see these results despite the facilities challenges mentioned in the article. It is true that our main campus bears 50 years of deterioration. In addition, our operating budget is relatively small for an institution our size. Also, our associate degree nursing program of over 200 students was closed in 2015. It reopened this year.
Our Equity Imperative strategic plan (udc.edu), shows that we know our students well. We focus on them all. They are the citizens of the District who seek an affordable education from a fully accredited university (reaffirmed in 2015 with 11 commendations). Some come directly from high school, some deplete TAG money and transfer to UDC to finish their education. Some enter workforce training and are inspired to proceed to a bachelor’s degree.
So while the article implied we should only focus on workforce students, that would do a great disservice, for example, to the students in our nationally #1-ranked Business School (affordableschools.net), or our #1-ranked mechanical engineering program, or our top-10-
ranked Clinical Law programs (US News and World Report).
Our vision is that students who come through our doors will reach their highest levels of human potential. Any lesser vision would not befit the public institution of higher learning in and for the nation’s capital.
Ronald Mason, Jr., President
University of the District of Columbia
Barbara Lappin says
I’m not sure the numbers here are meaningful as presented by UDC president Ronald Mason, Jr.
So let me see If I get it. Roughly 1/3 of the students are full time, 1/3 are part time and 1/3 are older certificate seeking for job training.? You didn’t say if these numbers included your law school? Yes I too heard that the law school was rated as a good school for the money.
The TAG program, if I have it right is a grant for $2500 up to $10,000 to be used solely on private universities in DC. I believe there is another program that allows DC high school graduates to attend out of state universities at in state rates. These programs are not free. None of these funds affectively offsets university tuition. So does this realistically draw students away who are on a limited budget?
The other program is a fair break for DC high schoolers since there is little to choose from in DC on the public university level. I understand the financial break would apply only to public universities outside of DC. You still need to apply.
Anybody of limited means would not consider any of this a true bargain. How do you know how many this draws away? Where do you find these numbers? I postulate the number is pretty low.
I agree with Ms. Berlin and praise her for having the courage to look at the big picture. Moreover, in these day of virtual learning many college students are looking at community schools as a viable alternative. You might capitalize on this.
I never see any advertisements come my way for fast tracked masters degrees or certificate programs at UDC. I must admit there seems to be a lack of organization in some of your programs such as the free auditing program for seniors on the undergrad level. I enrolled three times and each time I was charged full tuition. The right and let hand had a problem
UDC is affordable college. You could expand your customer base and reevaluate your new market share of students. Many schools cater to commuters with condensed classes and convenient times. So who do you serve? Maybe the business school could offer solutions.
Lee says
As a point of clarification, you are a tad bit confused regarding the DCTAG Program. The portion that covers the private colleges in the DC Area offers a maximum of up to $2,500 annually. You also mention a program that offers a “financial break” for public colleges and universities outside of DC. That is also DCTAG. The program offers up to $10,000 per year to cover the difference between in and out of state tuition. The public law which authorized DCTAG also gives UDC Title III eligibility, which it did not have previously. This status enables UDC to receive in excess of $1 million annually.
Ryan Moore says
Bravo president Mason. Your response brought me so much joy as a current student. You are the best president. You support us, unite us, defend us, and celebrate us. You know who we are and we know why we chose UDC. The education that I receive from my professors is high level and on par with any other DC university (at a more cost-effective price). Firebirds Forever!
Joey Spatafora says
I suggest that UDC start a program of adult education in the evenings. Twenty years ago Georgetown had an excellent program in their School of Continuing Studies, but it was decimated by focussing only on courses relevant to the workplace, such as “federal contracting” and “security studies” and “real estate licensing.” Before that, they had excellent classes in Indian Philosophy, Herodotus, and other Humanities.
I suspect the neighborhood around UDC is full of well-educated (and possibly retired) adults who would love to continue their education by taking relatively rigorous university-quality classes in the humanities and other fields, such as Georgetown used to provide – or they could also teach. No university in DC has offered such a program in over 15 years. Just think – we could be learning to read Ancient Egyptian (Hieroglyphs), reading Thucydides, studying history, any number of things.