The Curtis Fund Scholarship Program
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The Curtis Fund Scholarship Program Perceptions and Outcomes of Recent Scholarship Recipients Prepared for: The Curtis Scholarship Foundation Prepared by: Dr. Vincent Bolduc Dr. Herbert Kessel Saint Michael’s College Center for Social Science Research Summer of 2011 The Social Science Research Center at Saint Michael's College was established in 1987 to provide opportunities for faculty and students to engage cooperatively in inter-disciplinary research within the social sciences. Research services are offered to government, businesses and nonprofit institutions. Acknowledgements Besides the support and encouragement of Joe Boutin and other Board members, we also owe a debt of gratitude to student manager Athena Drellos, whose efficiency and tenacity in keeping the schedule of interviewers and respondent records in impeccable order was invaluable. Leslie Turner, SMC Administrative Assistant, also made a tremendous contribution for her many hours of data entry and careful file creation and formatting. Finally, the project would have been impossible without the interviewing skills of the following students in Vince Bolduc‟s Research Methods class: Harrison Antognioni; Casey Aspell; Brittany Borja; Cassy Burns; Jerry Carter; Kate Coggeshall; Maria Cole; Kate Condon; Sam Culver; Athena Drellos; Sarah Ells; Sarah Godlewski; Dan Healy; Erin Kennally; Kate Laughlin; Tim McDonnell; Rachel McLaughlin; Kate McNamara; Ben Mitchell; Abbie Monaghan; Kate Murphy; Meghan O‟Brien; Liz Reid; Joel Smus; Tobin Weltin. 2 Introduction Going to college is expensive, with yearly increases in tuition over recent decades exceeding almost all other items in the CPI index. To make matters worse, there has been a decrease in many forms of public funding for grants and loans making cost a major impediment to young people seeking a higher education.1 At the same time, the earnings gap between those with a high school degree and those with a college degree has increased, making a college education of higher relative value than it has been for many years. Once in college, students from lower income families face many challenges not experienced by those from more affluent families, so their college completion rates are less.2 According to Lawrence Summers, the former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and past President of Harvard University, "We need to recognize that the most serious domestic problem in the United States today is the widening gap between the children of the rich and the children of the poor…and education is the most powerful weapon we have to address that problem."3 For all these reasons, the importance of private scholarship funds, especially those designed for first generation students, are more important than ever. In late 2010, the Director of Vermont‟s Curtis Fund, Joe Boutin, contacted Drs. Vince Bolduc and Herb Kessel of Saint Michael‟s College, to interview recipients of the Curtis Fund scholarships to determine their satisfaction with the program, post college outcomes and suggestions for improvements. This baseline study focuses on Vermonters who received a Curtis scholarship between 1995 and 2010, a time period in which the program maintained more up to date address records than in earlier years. The Curtis Fund traces its origins back to a $120,000 trust fund established by Emma Eliza Curtis in 1910 that was designed to help young Vermonters, both men and women, pursue a college education or a trade. Over the decades, the trust fund has grown to $28 million, from which approximately $1.5 million is allocated annually to Vermonters of limited means, with a particular focus on first generation college students. The Fund is administered by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) which combines Curtis Fund grants with loans and other scholarships to enable Vermont high school graduates to further their educations. The study begins with an overview of the costs and benefits of a college education and some of the special challenges faced by first generation college students that have been documented in earlier research. The study then turns its attention to some methodological issues associated with the survey of the scholarship recipients, followed by a summary of the study‟s data findings. The first appendix includes the survey instrument with the percentages for each question presented in bold. The second appendix includes the verbatim responses to the open ended questions listed for each participant who shared their views with us. The final appendix presents charts of some 1 According to William Deresiewicz in an article entitled “Faulty Towers: The Crises in Higher Education,” (The Nation May 4th, 2011), “Estimates are that over the past decade, between 1.4 million and 2.4 million students have been prevented from going to college for financial reasons---about 50 percent more than during the 1990s. And of course, in the present climate of universal fiscal crises, it is also about to get a lot worse.” 2 “Only 41 percent of low-income students entering a four-year college managed to graduate within five years, the Department of Education found in a study last year, but 66 percent of high-income students did. That gap had grown over recent years.” The College Dropout Boom, David Leonhardt, New York Times 2005. 3 Ibid 3 selected findings and then an extensive array of tables which shows the responses to various questions broken down by the key social-economic characteristics of the sample. The Broader Context In 2009, the proportion of American adults over 26 who had a college education was almost 30%. More precisely, according to the 2011 Statistical Abstracts of the United States, 9.0% have Associates degrees, another 19% have Bachelor‟s degrees; finally, 10.6% have advanced degrees. We usually combine the latter two to say that 29.6% of American adults have a BA or more. Fully 68% of high school graduates enroll in college immediately after high school.4 Because of Vermont‟s relatively low number of large colleges and universities, Vermont has one of the lowest percentages of students attending college in their home state (24%).5 The national average is 50%.6 There were 19,102,800 college students in the US in 2009.7 In 2008, 750,164 Associate degrees were awarded and 1,563,069 BA‟s.8 In 2008, there were 2,675 four year colleges and universities and 1,677 two year colleges.9 According to the 2011 Statistical Abstracts of the US, between 2007 and 2008, the average official prices of attendance at U.S. colleges and universities (absent financial aid contributions) were as follows: All institutions: $14,006 Public 2 year: $7,033 Public 4 year with doctorate program: $16,615 Private non-doctorate program: $25,184 Private doctorate: $31,628 Average amount of financial aid per student, includes grants, loans and work-study programs (65% of all students receive some financial aid): All institutions: $9,127 Public 2 year: $3,395 Public 4 year with doctorate program: $10,097 Private non-doctorate program: $16,006 Private doctorate: $18,962 Numerous sources document the material benefits of a college degree, such as lower unemployment rates and higher average incomes. While the cost of college is increasingly expensive, the College 4 Baum, Sandy; Jennifer Ma; Kathleen Payea, Education Pays: 2010, Trends in Higher Education Series, The College Board, 2010 p48. 5 In spite of the relative low percentage of young Vermonters remaining in the state for their secondary education, overall the state has been ranked as the 6th best educated state in the nation. In large part, this statistic reflects the high level of education of those non-native born Vermonters who choose to live here. Thomas Mortenson, Interstate Migration of College Graduates 1989 to 2007. Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY. August 2008. 6 Ibid, p.48. 7 Statistical Abstracts of the US, 2011 p. 177. 8 Ibid, p.187. 9 Ibid, p.176. 4 Board estimates that by age 33, the cost of a college education has paid for itself.10 More specifically, Day and Newburger found that “over a work-life, individuals who have a bachelor‟s degree would earn on average $2.1 million — about one third more than workers who did not finish college, and nearly twice as much as workers with only a high school diploma. A master‟s degree holder tops a bachelor‟s degree holder at $2.5 million. Doctoral ($3.4 million) and professional degree holders ($4.4 million) do even better.”11 College grads also enjoy a higher perceived quality of life. As education increases, so does volunteerism: people with a bachelor‟s degree volunteer at a 43% rate in comparison to 30% for those with an associate‟s degree or some college and 19% for high school graduates only.12 Just as important, people “with higher levels of education have better health, exercise more, smoke less, are less often obese, have better medical care, fewer sexual partners, higher life expectancy, more secure retirement plans, and higher savings rates. While many say that „the exceptions always make the rule‟ (and there are many exceptions) the generalization is well established: as education increases, so do the choices, options, and opportunities available. Having choices in life is an important component of human well-being.”13 It is well established that children from well-off families have significant advantages in attending and completing a college education. For example, 57% of BA degree recipients come from the upper quartile in the distribution of income; only 10% come from the lower quartile.14 A recent report from the College Board provides clear documentation on the relationship between educational attainment and family background.15 For example: “Children of parents with higher levels of educational attainment are better prepared for school and, while in school, are more likely than other children to engage in educational activities with their parents (p31).” Thirty-nine percent of dependent undergrads from families with incomes below $40,000 were enrolled in two-year institutions, in comparison to 17% for families with income above $120,000.