Ouachita Baptist University plans to offer two fully paid spots in every incoming class to graduates of KIPP schools in an effort designed to aid the charter schools’ students - often first-generation college applicants from low-income families - in completing a degree.
The partnership, which also will include intensive mentoring and support, is the first that the charter school network has made with an Arkansas campus, organizers said. KIPP, which stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, has similar agreements with 29 other colleges and universities around the country, including Brown University, Duke University and Spelman College.
In Arkansas, KIPP operates KIPP Delta Public Schools, which are independent, publicly funded charter schools in Helena-West Helena and Blytheville. While KIPP Delta graduates can choose to attend other colleges , the students will benefit from having a formal partnership with a university that is closer to home, said Carissa Godwin, development director for KIPP Delta.
In schools that partner with KIPP, “the mentoring is more intense, there’s more frequent check-ins with [students]. They have somebody they can call immediately,” Godwin said. “This is built to where it is a personal relationship with a mentor on campus who can help you navigate the ups and downs of college life.”
The partnership “meshes very well with Ouachita’s mission and philosophy,” university spokesman Trennis Henderson said, adding that KIPP approached the Arkadelphia campus about the agreement.
Within the terms of this partnership, Ouachita Baptist plans to recruit and enroll two qualified KIPP alumni for the 2013-14 school year and each year thereafter. This fall, three KIPP alumni enrolled at Ouachita Baptist, which has a total enrollment of about 1,500 students.
Of the 247 students KIPP Delta Collegiate High School in Helena-West Helena enrolled in the 2012-13 school year, 240 were black, according to data from the Arkansas Department of Education. And 86 percent of the 1,161 students who attended KIPP’s four Arkansas schools qualified for free or reduced lunches, an indicator of low family income, the department data showed.
Students in those two groups are more likely to be the first in their family to attend college, and they often face challenges that can make it difficult to complete a degree, even if they are academically gifted, Godwin said.
For example, a student may lack guidance or financial support from a parent when they are asked to purchase an expensive textbook or cover the cost of class supplies, she said.
“Our students don’t have that type of support, not because their parents don’t want to provide it, but because it’s not available,” Godwin said. “Something as simple as a $150 book can cause them to drop out of school … We’ve got to find a way to make it to where they have a level playing field.”
KIPP Delta Collegiate High School has a privately funded staff member who helps its students find a college and enroll. That staff member also helps remotely mentor students throughout college, navigating financial aid challenges and sometimes making short-term loans to cover unexpected costs.
Formalized partnerships, such as the one at Ouachita Baptist, will build on that support to help students succeed, Godwin said.
“If you graduate college, you’re going to make more money, you’re going to have a better life,” she said. “You have more options available to you, and we are all about options.”
The 2013-14 cost for a year of attendance at Ouachita Baptist is $29,010, including tuition, fees and housing, according to the college’s website, which indicates that most students receive some financial aid.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/11/2013