Tag: university of arkansas

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Setting the Example: How First-Gen Students Raise the Bar & Their Debt to Better Themselves

Setting the Example: How First-Gen Students
Raise the Bar, and their Debt, to Better Themselves


University of Arkansas first-generation students have decreased over the years, but the student loan debt has steadily increased and exceeded Arkansas’ average over the past 5 years, according to the College Scoreboard, a Department of Education database.

By Elena Ramirez
The Razorback Reporter

When individuals gain higher education, they accomplish the most effective way to raise their families’ income, according to research from the National Center for Children in Poverty. Yet higher education is expensive and intimidating, especially for first-generation students, who often have little background in navigating through the unknown world of federal loans, private loans and applications. 

Emily Beltran is a Rogers New Technology High School senior and prospective UofA Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design student. Photo by Emily Beltran.

“It’s harder because in a way, you’re guiding yourself,” said Emily Beltran, a Rogers New Technology senior and a first-generation student who has been accepted to the University of Arkansas. “Your parents can’t give you much advice … it’s definitely hard not being mentored by your parents.”

The complexity of paying for college is just one of the many issues first-generation students need to resolve on their own. The average debt for first-generation students at the University of Arkansas has increased by 12.3% to $14,423 in 2018, over the past five years, according to College Scorecard, a Department of Education database. Dekarius Dawson, first-generation senior music major studying voice, said he has struggled with his out-of-state tuition rate. The native of Memphis, Tennessee has attended the UofA for three years and will be graduating in December with more than $29,000 of federal student loan debt, double the amount for first generation students at the U of A.

Despite that amount of debt, Dawson notices the important precedent of his work.

“To me and my family, this is a huge accomplishment, because I’m setting an example for my brothers and others in Memphis,” he said. “Receiving a degree is the new standard I’m trying to start.” 

Dekarius Dawson is a first-generation student at the UofA. He will graduate this fall with a vocal music degree that he completed in three years. Photo by Elena Ramirez.

Dawson became a part of the UofA’s First-Generation Mentoring Program. He was paired with professor Timothy Thompson, who was also a first-generation college student in 1971.

Thompson recalled he was able to receive his undergraduate degree without acquiring student loans. “I can’t imagine being an undergraduate student these days and coming into these five sometimes six-figure loans and not having any idea if you will have a job when you get out of school,” Thompson said.

The three-year-old program, funded by the Honors College, provides students a mentor on campus. Students have to be the first in their family to attend a four-year college.

Despite the 12.3% increase in debt for first-generation students, enrollment for trends are heading in the other direction:  first-generation enrollment has declined 3% over the past four years. The decrease of first-generation students is something that Chancellor Steinmetz is focused on with the new student success center that will open in the Spring 2021, said Ramon Balderas, student development specialist. “We grew very fast over the past 10 years. We are still trying to adjust to the changes,” said Balderas. “Our resources are very spread out and the new student center will help students.” About 26% of the UofA’s student population is first-generation.

Thompson has been a leader in the First-Generation Mentoring Program. Photo by Elena Ramirez.

The UA Student Support Services is a federally funded program that helps first-generation and low-income students. The program serves 325 students a year.

One local high school is working to support first generation students for life after campus. Two counselors at Rogers New Technology High School are pursuing initiatives on their campus to ensure students have a plan for after high school. Counselor Cindy Caudle said the Rogers New Technology High School principal wants “no graduate to be left on their parents couch in June.” Brenda Walkenbach, who has had 25 years of experience in high school counseling, wants to present high school students with multiple options. “It may not include college, it may be the workforce or the military,” she said.  Caudle added that a number of students enlisted in the National Guard or fully enlisted in a branch of the military as a means to pay for college.

Every second Tuesday of the month, students and their parents meet at Rogers New Technology High School for a “Senior Wrap Session” where they are provided with guidance about post-secondary school options and resources.

High school counselors Brenda Walkenbach (left) and Cindy Caudle (right) help students prepare with the next steps after high school. Photo by Elena Ramirez.

Beltran, a Rogers New Technology student recently accepted into the UofA’s Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, said she will be the first in her family to attend a four-year college. She is a part of the Early College Experience program, where she attends Northwest Arkansas Community College while enrolled in high school. She will graduate from community college with an associate’s degree. 

Beltran has applied to approximately three scholarships so far and is relying on family support for the amount that cannot be covered, she said. She isn’t familiar with the loan process and has been intimidated by the essay portion of scholarships.

“Writing has always been my weakest subject, but I can go to NWACC’s (Northwest Arkansas Community College) writing center and I know they can help me there,” Beltran said.

Being first-generation motivates her to accomplish school and to better herself, she said. It will bring a change for her family. 

She knows that school comes at a high expense, but said getting her prerequisites out of the way “is like a stress taken off of [her] shoulders.” 

The cost of school, she said, will not hold her back.

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Options Available for University of Arkansas Students Facing Homelessness

Services Available for Students Facing Homelessness

University of Arkansas students facing homelessness have multiple resources available through different organizations, such as 7Hills Homeless Center and the Salvation Army.

Nearly four in 10 college students in a survey of 43,000 reported that they did not have adequate housing, according to a national research on four-year and two-year colleges.

Researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab surveyed students from 66 institutions in 20 states and the District of Columbia and concluded that 36% of college students did not have proper housing. They define homelessness as “a person is without a place to live, often residing in a shelter, an automobile, an abandoned building or outside.” They define housing insecurity as students who are staying with friends, struggling to pay rent or need to move frequently.

Data from the UofA on the number of students who face homelessness is not clear. Students are only required to list an address when they apply to the university.

When students apply, they have an address. University officials do not know whether it is not their home address, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and the dean of admissions.

UA freshmen who are under 21 years old and do not live within 70 miles of the campus must live on campus their first year, according to the UA housing page. After their first-year students have the option of moving off campus.

For some students who are in that in-between stage of affording dorms or apartment leases, one option is crashing on couches, moving from place to place and more. Some might end up being classified as homeless.

Homelessness in college students is not what most people consider homelessness, said Kevin Fitzpatrick, a UA sociology and criminology professor.

“They will likely be couch surfing, they won’t be in the places we typically find homeless people,” Fitzpatrick said.

Multiple resources are available for those in need.

The 7Hills Homeless Center serves those in need in northwest Arkansas in a variety of ways. 7Hills has a Day Center that helps meet basic human needs such as meals, showers, storage lockers, laundry, clothing, blankets and a safe mail drop.

The center serves more than 500 individuals a month at the Day Center, according to the 7Hills webpage.

The Walker Family Residential Community, a 7Hills program, provides transitional and permanent supportive housing. The center also has a veterans service program.

The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas has served both traditional and nontraditional students, said Ambra Bruce, director of social services for the Salvation Army in Fayetteville

A variety of services are offered such as access to a food pantry, access to a case manager and access to clothing and food vouchers, as well as prescription assistance, Bruce said.

The Salvation Army also has emergency shelters in Fayetteville and Bentonville.

“Quality of life and wellbeing are critical determinants of student success,” Fitzpatrick said.

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New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community Opening Gets Delayed

New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community Opening Gets Delayed

Preparations for the new community is taking longer than organizers expected.

The lot on East 19th Street where the New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community will be built.

Advocates for the area homeless population are working toward opening a self-managed, low-cost housing program next year. Plans had called for a fall 2019 opening, but preparations have taken longer than organizers anticipated.

Serve Northwest Arkansas, an outreach to underprivileged communities, is working to open the New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community in 2020.

The organization aims to help improve the conditions for Fayetteville’s homeless population with what volunteers call a “housing first” approach, according to the website.  

“With our original time schedule, we felt going into this it would get us to a place where we would have a majority of the work completed before winter,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, board vice president and UA sociology professor. “That was the timeline in our head, sometimes our head doesn’t match with reality. We got a good dose of reality.”

Serve NWA bought 4.69 acres of undeveloped land for $72,571 from the University of Arkansas in 2018, said Mike Johnson, UA associate vice chancellor for Facilities Management.

The area was cleaned and cleared before being sold, Johnson said.

“I think it’s a great project,” Johnson said about the proposed community.

The New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community will house up to 20 people and will be similar to other communities across the United States.

Thurston Roye who is homeless, thinks the community could be very beneficial for those in need, he said. 

There is not a completion date for the project.

Once everyone is satisfied with the final drawings they will be submitted to the city of Fayetteville, where they go through a process to be approved, after the approval, building permits are given to allow construction on the site, Fitzpatrick said.

They are hoping to have permits ready so things can get started by the end of  September, Fitzpatrick said.

“When you commit to building a quality community to serve a complicated population you really have to make sure you think through every possible circumstance and possible problems you might encounter,” Fitzpatrick said

Gathering signatures, attending meetings, developing a 70-plus-page program manual and working with engineers who donated their time have all been part of process, Fitzpatrick said.

“At the same time we are getting the permit, we are also working with our general contractor and sending out bid sheets,” Fitzpatrick said. Potential bidders will provide a bid cost as well as donation.

“Some places will be willing to donate all their work, others might not charge cost of materials,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I fully expect that during the winter we will be in full swing construction-wise, so that by spring we are ready to take on clients,” Fitzpatrick said.

Yolanda Fields, community resources director thinks the community will be helpful for those in need. 

Providing another safe environment will be beneficial, Fields said