Getting Yonkers students into college is one challenge. Keeping them there is another.
Yonkers Partners in Education has spent 19 years working on the first problem — placing counselors in every public high school in the city, following selected students from ninth grade through graduation, and building a network of formal pathways into specific colleges. But a student who enrolls in college still has to get through it. And for first-generation, low-income students — the ones YPIE was built for — the obstacles don’t stop after they’re admitted. A failed exam, a financial aid problem, a rough semester with no one watching closely enough to intervene: these are the things that can quickly end college careers.
How to Help
YPIE’s answer to that problem is visibility. On April 7, the organization announced a partnership agreement with the University of Mount Saint Vincent that initiates a data-sharing arrangement that will give YPIE real-time access to how its students are doing in college, including information about grades, attendance, and participation.
“When students go to college, it’s hard to know how they’re doing and who is in need of extra support,” said Samuel Wallis, CEO of Yonkers Partners in Education.
There are currently 32 YPIE students enrolled at UMSV, according to Wallis. For YPIE students, being tracked through college is not new; monitoring academic progress is part of what they sign up for when they join the program in high school. For those students, the difference will be felt through Jaclyn Cooke, YPIE Director of College Success, whose role now formally extends into the university. She helps students navigate tutoring, financial aid, and academic setbacks.
Rapid Responses
“YPIE will know how students are doing academically, in almost real time, and we will be able to make sure students are getting the resources and help they need,” said Anne H. Daniel, Senior Director of YPIE Yonkers, in an email. “UMSV is already doing a great job providing support to students on campus and this is a way to supplement what they are already doing. UMSV and YPIE are like peanut butter and chocolate: they are already great on their own but when we bring them together they can be even better.”
UMSV is in Riverdale, along the Hudson, two miles south of Yonkers. Founded in 1847 by the Sisters of Charity, it enrolls about 4,200 students across more than 75 academic programs. About 35 percent of the undergraduates come from the Bronx.
“What excites me most is what this makes possible for students — not just getting to college, but getting through college,” said Dr. Susan R. Burns, the university’s president, at Tuesday’s ceremony.
Other Programs with YPIE
In February, the Ledger reported on a partnership with Purchase College that introduced a housing scholarship and a direct admissions track for Yonkers students. Similar agreements are in place with Mercy University and, for YPIE’s Jersey City program, Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City.
“We know this is a place where students do well,” Wallis said of UMSV. “And we want to send students where they do well.”
YPIE is now in its 19th year. More information is available at ypie.org.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name and title of a YPIE staff member. Her name is Jaclyn Cooke, YPIE Director of College Success. The story has been updated.
