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More than 400 students from five Fort Worth high schools thought they were just visiting Paul Quinn College on Thursday.
Instead, in a ceremony held between the women’s and men’s basketball games, they were surprised with acceptance letters to the historically Black college.
But there was more.
Each of them will also be able to select two family members or friends to enroll with them this fall to pursue their own certificate or degree.
The announcement is part of the college’s new admissions and recruiting philosophy that will take place across the school this fall.
If a student is accepted with at least a 3.0 grade-point average and qualifies for federal financial aid, they can also choose two family members or friends to enroll with them.
The goal is to take the pressure and responsibility to change the course of a family’s financial situation off of just the first-generation college student, and increase the odds of success when a family can witness each other working toward a certificate or degree.
“Your teammates matter,” Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, told The Texas Tribune. “If you can invest in your teammates, if you can invest in your village, that makes the village stronger and that improves the odds and opportunities for your village to thrive.”
The two additional family members or friends who are selected to enroll will be able to pursue a bachelor’s degree through the college’s online degree programs or a certificate through a new credentialing program at the school called PQCx. Sorrell said they are directing these students toward the online school because they anticipate most of the family and friends are already working and full-time in-person college might be unsustainable. Current students who meet the qualifications are also allowed to invite two family members or friends to enroll at some point within the next year.
Sara Goldrick-Rab, a higher education policy and sociology professor at Temple University, and founding director of the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice in Philadelphia, said this new model is the kind of innovative thinking that higher education leaders and experts have come to expect from Paul Quinn College and its leader.
She said the new model could help improve retention and boost enrollment among first-generation college students who often face loneliness and guilt when they leave their families to attend college.
“He’s recognizing that you can take a student and get them more education. But if the family doesn’t have resources, there is a pull towards home that can bring them down,” she said.
But she cautioned that family members who have never pursued higher education or haven’t been in the classroom for a while might need an even larger academic or emotional support system to remain in the classroom.
Sorrell insisted the new model was not created as an enrollment solution, but if it’s successful, it would positively affect the private college’s finances as these additional students would also probably qualify for federal or state financial aid.
Across the country, private colleges and universities, which rely heavily on tuition and fees to balance their budgets, have struggled with enrollment declines made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Paul Quinn’s enrollment dropped from 554 students in the fall of 2019 to just 385 this past fall.
Paul Quinn College was founded in Waco 1872 by a group of African Methodist Episcopal Church preachers in Austin to educate freed slaves and their offspring. The college moved to Dallas in 1990. Its model is as unique as they come in the higher education world.
In 2017, it became the first urban work college in the country where all students are required to have a job, either on campus or with a partner company through the college’s Corporate Work Program. In exchange, the student receives an annual $5,000 scholarship and cash stipend that helps reduce student debt and provide meaningful work experiences. Eighty-five percent of students qualify for Pell Grants, indicating they come from families with low incomes. The school accepts 80% of applicants.
Goldrick-Rab said its unique setup means this may not be a model that could be easily replicated at other colleges or universities.
But for this college, she said it could work.
“Bringing people with you who you know makes college a family affair,” she said. “Which to be honest with you, I think would particularly resonate with African American families who are very close knit. That is wicked smart.”
