The Commit Partnership works alongside school systems, higher education institutions, policymakers, businesses and community members to create systemic change in education systems and, ultimately, ensure that more young people across Dallas County and the state of Texas attain a living wage.
Their recent Economic Mobility Report demonstrates the progress they’ve made toward that goal. While incredible progress has been made, the data also make clear that too many students continue to face systemic barriers to postsecondary enrollment and completion – both key milestones directly connected to lifetime earnings.
Read on for the root causes to these barriers, and the ways institutions across Dallas County are collaborating to address them.
Root Cause: Students lack awareness of postsecondary pathways available to them.
Solution: Centralized, high-quality college and career advising – beginning in 8th grade.
Education is Freedom (EIF) is the largest college access provider in Dallas County, serving thousands of Dallas County students as they begin to plan their next step after high school. Thanks in part to a first-of-its-kind social impact investment facilitated by Commit that leverages College, Career and Military Readiness Outcomes-Bonus Funding, EIF is expanding to more campuses across Dallas County – including middle schools. High quality advising for more students will ensure more students can identify the path that is right for them.
Root Cause: College is perceived as unaffordable, even when students qualify for state and federal funding that could cover their costs.
Solution: A tuition-free pathway to local two-and four-year institutions, bolstered by robust data systems that build capacity for high school staff.
The Dallas County Promise is more than a last dollar tuition grant to Dallas College and North Texas four-year universities – it is a roadmap to success for students and educators alike. By leveraging state and federal funding sources such as Pell grants, reinforced by philanthropic investments, students can be confident when they embark on the college application process that a tuition-free option is available to them. And using detailed case management software from Economic Mobility Systems, school counselors and college advisors can ensure more students meet the benchmarks they need to access public funds and avoid costly remediation by meeting Texas Success Initiative standards. This county wide effort is making college affordable for all, and ensuring student are prepared to succeed.
Root Cause: Community college students interested in earning a Bachelor’s lack clarity on requirements and lose time and money earning credits that do not transfer.
Solution: Meta-majors in high-wage, high-demand fields that make degree pathways clear, combined with continued individualized support.
Dallas College, East Texas A&M, Texas Woman’s University, and the University of Texas at Dallas has come together to form the Dallas Transfer Collaborative, which offers Dallas College students three “meta-major” pathways in Business, Education and Health Sciences that ensure their core credits will contribute to a suite of degrees in each field from the participating four-year institutions. Dallas College has also created a new Transfer Success Fund and related Transfer Success Coaching roles to further support transfer students, with support from a historic investment from the O’Donnell Foundation facilitated by Commit. Lost credits mean lost time and money for students – the Transfer Collaborative will ensure every credit counts and students can complete their degree on time.
Learn more these and other root causes of higher education attrition – and how Dallas County institutions are collaborating to address them – in this one-pager. Contact Joshua Kumler to learn more about this innovative work.
