Power of YOU

1. 0 Power of YOU First year progress report Irene Kovala, Ed.D. Beth Yeh, Ph.D. Minneapolis Community and Technical College

2. Acknowledgements • Dan Mueller and Jennifer Lee Shultz of Wilder Research conducted the evaluation and provided many of the slides in this presentation • Special thanks to the POY staff for their work on collecting the data needed for the evaluation • Additional special thanks to community partners (i.e., Hospitality House, Achieve!Minneapolis, YMCA, etc.) who have supported the POY effort through financial support and community outreach wilderresearch.org

3. Power of YOU Institutions • Minneapolis Community and Technical College • Type: Comprehensive college • Location: downtown Minneapolis • Credit headcount FY07: 11,888 • St. Paul College • Type: Comprehensive college • Location: downtown St. Paul • Credit headcount FY07: 7,645 • Metropolitan State University • Type: State university • Locations: Minneapolis & St. Paul • Credit headcount FY07: 9,184 wilderresearch.org Source: MnSCU Management Reports

4. Educational context • “only 3% of Minnesota’s African American and American Indian 9th graders, and 5 % of the Latino 9th graders, are projected to complete a bachelors degree before they are 25 years old” • Trouble on the Horizon, Citizens League • Minnesota ranks among the bottom five states in its graduation rates for African American and Asian students • Diplomas Count: Ready for What?, Education Week wilderresearch.org

5. Power of YOU • Goal: To increase the college enrollment and success of underrepresented students • Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high school graduates • Free tuition to: • Minneapolis Community & Technical College (MCTC) • Saint Paul College • Metropolitan State University (joining fall 2007) • Specialized curriculum and student support services wilderresearch.org

6. Power of YOU Components • Removing Financial Barriers • Support At-Risk College Students for Success • Reach Out and Raise Expectations • Public Policy Advocacy wilderresearch.org

7. Impact on enrollment: MCTC and Saint Paul College Power of YOU students represent nearly 60% of 2006 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high school graduates who enrolled in the fall Fall 2006 enrollment numbers wilderresearch.org

8. Impact on enrollment: MCTC and Saint Paul College Enrollment of Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high school graduates doubled in fall 2006 compared to fall 2005 wilderresearch.org

9. 0 Impact on enrollment: Student characteristics • Large increases in underrepresented students compared to previous two years: • Low-income • ESL • Black • Male • A somewhat higher proportion of Power of YOU students took developmental courses (75-81%) than their classmates (60-68%). wilderresearch.org

10. Financial barriers to enrollment: Student perceptions Source: Web-based survey of Power of YOU students, spring 2007 Note: N=128 for survey, both MCTC and St. Paul College students included wilderresearch.org

11. Retention and academic standing • POY students had an overall retention rate fall to spring of 85%, higher than their classmates and prior cohorts • POY students had a fall 06 to fall 07 retention rate of 64%, according to preliminary analysis • POY students’ GPA tended to decrease from fall to spring semester, with an average GPA at the end of the first year of 2.3 wilderresearch.org

12. Retention and academic standing • At the end of spring semester, 62% of POY students were in good academic standing • POY students earned an average of 19.6 credits in their first year • Percentage of credits earned out of credits attempted at the end of the first year was about the same for POY students and their classmates (71%). wilderresearch.org

13. Successes and challenges • Successes • Increased enrollment of underrepresented groups • High first year retention rate • Challenges • Inadequate preparation for college • Decline in academic performance after the first term wilderresearch.org

14. Selected program recommendations • Strengthen relationship with high schools • Increase assistance for students related to personal finance (e.g., living expenses) and personal issues • Balance pre-enrollment and post-enrollment services • Further develop the community partnerships supporting the program wilderresearch.org

15. What’s happening this fall? • New Fall 2007 Power of YOU cohort • MCTC has 241 POY participants • St. Paul College has 164 POY participants • Metropolitan state has 18 POY participants wilderresearch.org

16. Immigrant student interface with Power of YOU • POY program initially required completion of federal financial aid forms • Undocumented students excluded • New legislation allowed 7 MnSCU institutions, including MCTC, to pilot a single tuition rate (resident tuition rate) • In addition, the MCTC Foundation fundraised to provide private financial support to undocumented students to participate in POY wilderresearch.org

17. Questions? • Power of YOU Evaluation Interim Report and executive summary, created by Wilder Research is available at: http://www.minneapolis.edu/ and http://www.wilder.org/research.0.html wilderresearch.org