February 2015 Education


The College Myth: Why Most Students Need More Than Four Years


way to success and better lives, but for many it becomes a stressful cycle and may not guarantee anything more than years of debt and an unfinished dream.


As a solution, Complete College America suggests a more structured higher education delivery method, called Guided Pathways to Success (GPS), which would provide students with a direct route


My first two and half years at


SFSU, I played for the women’s soccer team, which helped me obtain priority registration, and due to my low income background I was part of the EOP (Educational Opportunity Program), which also offered priority registration. Both of these programs also


provided The teacher smiled and held a


hat as a line of about a dozen students looked at each other nervously. Inside the hat were small pieces of paper with each student’s name. Luck would determine who would be part of the class, and who would have to continue the search.


Those of us already enrolled in the class waited quietly, watching the smiles and frowns as lucky students moved closer to graduation,


and


others possibly further. In my four and a half years at San Francisco State University, I saw this scenario play out year after year. Some professors tried to help us by taking into consideration the number of credits students needed, or by adding more students to the class than the limit stipulated — but often times getting into a class just felt like a matter of luck.


This phenomenon isn’t unique


to SFSU, in many universities across California it’s difficult for students to graduate on time because of the space constraints in required classes, tuition costs, credits lost when transferring schools and generally not enough courses offered. And, a new study shows that the commonly held goal of graduating within four-years is unattainable for a growing number of


students. Four-Year Myth, a report from the


national nonprofit, Complete College America, declares that a 4-year degree has become a myth in American higher education. The study finds that the majority of full-time American college students do not graduate on time, costing them thousands of dollars in extra college-related expenses.


Policy experts who analyzed


the statistics believe a more realistic benchmark for graduation is six years for a bachelor’s degree and three years for a “two-year” certificate.


While in college I heard numerous friends and students debate whether higher education is worth the debt. It’s difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook with increasing tuition costs, long commutes and a bleak job market for graduates.


Fellow students frequently bowed to the pressure of not wanting to fall too deep into debt and would work part-time or full-time while in school, which usually meant extending their time in school. Not a great tradeoff.


Ideally, students would be able to


make classes fit into the demands of the rest of their lives. As is, it works the other way around. Students are given


You are cordially invited to attend...


City Council meetings... Norfolk - regular meetings are held on the first and fourth Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and the second and third Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.


Chesapeake - regular meetings are held on the second, third and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.


Newport News - regular business meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m.


Suffolk - regular meetings are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Hampton - typically take place on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m.


Virginia Beach - meets on the first four Tuesdays of each month. In July the meetings are scheduled on the first two Tuesdays only. Formal session begins at 6 p.m. Portsmouth - meeting dates are the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.


a day and time to register for classes depending on a number of variables: what year of school they’re in, whether they’re athletes or in a special program because of disabilities or income level. Often, popular


classes—and even


those needed for graduation—fill up fast. Imagine being given a day and time to register only to discover that the classes you need are already full, with a full wait list too. This is the frustrating reality for many students.


We are told that education is the Our Faith


“The Spirit and the Word” By Rev. Dr. Gregory Headen


spirit to get bodies moving. without


It takes Bodies


spirit are


just like baby dolls that look good, but have no capacity to connect with the living or to respond to anything. This is


the problem with idol gods fashioned by human hands out of gold, silver, clay, etc. The Psalmist contrasts the true and living God in heaven with idols that have mouths that cannot speak, eyes that cannot see, ears that hear nothing, hands that lift noth- ing, and feet that walk nowhere (Ps. 115:3-7).


of God are like these idols.


People without the Spirit Every


human being has the component of spirit in his or her being. We are more than biology and intellect. We do more than physically animate and think. We hunger for the unseen in our spirits. We thirst for relationship with the eternal Spirit. But the Spirit of God enlightens us and empowers us in a way that is so far beyond the ordinary. This is what makes the peo- ple of God different. It is important to keep in mind that there is an insep- arable


Spirit and God’s Word.


relationship between God’s In Genesis


1:2-3, we see that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters,


and God said, “let there be light, and there was light.” The Spirit’s acting and God’s speaking are very con- nected. Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones illustrates this very well. The bones represent real people who are physically alive (the whole house of Israel). They are dead for the lack of God’s Spirit in them and a connec- tion to God’s Word. The remedy for their situation is to hear the word of the LORD. In the word, God says, “I will cause breath to enter into you.” The Hebrew word for breath also means wind and spirit.


So there is


a prophesying to the wind as well. Part of God’s promise to these bones in addition to coming up out of the graves is that “I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live” (Ezek. 37:14). This connection between the Spirit of God and the Word of God is continued in the New Testament. At Pentecost, the Spirit filled the upper room and those present, and Peter stood up to preach. The Spirit moved and the Gospel was preached. The apostle Paul said in connection with the whole armor of God, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). He seems to make the Spirit and the Word one and the same.


There is something here


for us. Let’s not assume that we are so in tuned to the Spirit if we are so empty of the Word.


tutoring, counseling,


money for books and guidance. To stay in these programs I had to keep a 2.0 GPA and complete 12 units each semester, which kept me on track for graduation.


Ultimately, these structured programs helped me complete classes, save money, and provided


moral


support that made me feel more confident in my college experience. If in practice, GPS functions the way the programs I was part of did, it may very well prove to be the answer to the increasing time and costs of college.


to graduation.


Utilizing GPS, majors are organized into a semester-by-semester set of courses that lead to on time graduation.


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11


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