The value of a higher education taught early on

For many seventh- and eighth-graders, the prospect of going to college is less imposing than… For many seventh- and eighth-graders, the prospect of going to college is less imposing than their impending high school years. But for many black middle-school students, the idea of going on to — and staying in — college can be even more daunting.

During a recent visit to the Pitt campus, organized by Pitt’s African-American Coalition for Advancement, Achievement, Success, and Excellence, 45 middle school students got to explore the possibility of higher education firsthand and hear from those who have come before them.

On Friday, March 5, the coalition hosted students from the Frick International Studies Academy for an event titled, “What’s the Hype? The Importance of Pursuing Higher Education.”

The visiting students began the day in the William Pitt Union Ballroom with registration and the singing of the Black National Anthem — “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” by James Weldon Johnson — before hearing a summary of the events of the day. Students moved on to workshops and meetings with current college students, where the young visitors got a chance to gain some insight into college life from representatives of various Pitt organizations, and a tour of campus dormitories.

According to Pitt sophomore Frances Taggert, vice-president of the coalition, members of her organization have spent about four hours on Fridays at Frick for the past year, running academic programming, workshops and field trips for students there. She said the events of the day were the result of trying to “bridge the gap between the two different worlds of public school and university,” as well as an attempt to meet the requests of Frick students.

“A lot of them haven’t been exposed to higher education, and they always ask, ‘How’s college? What’s it like?'” she said. “So we just said, ‘We’ll bring you over and show you.'”

The value of an older person showing interest and relating her knowledge and experiences to a younger person led Taggert and a group of other Pitt freshmen to create the coalition in January 2003. She recalled that, when she came to Pitt, she was surprised that upperclassman didn’t reach out to her and instead expected newcomers to join established organizations where, she said, they didn’t feel they had a voice.

“So, we felt, ‘Here we are. We were leaders in high school, and we feel like we can’t lead,'” she said. “So we came together and formed our own organization, which is based on service.”

“I’m from Pittsburgh and I’m a graduate of the public schools,” she added. “I went through a system where they don’t really force, or enforce, higher education on the students. That’s why our organization was founded — so we can give back to the students who go through the system we came out of.”

Rose Afriyie, director of programming for the coalition, said this visit was the first in-depth experience with Pitt for many of the Frick students, who usually view it from their classrooms across Fifth Avenue.

“They were really excited to see the rooms, and see where we eat, and how we live, and what exactly it takes to be an everyday college student,” she said. “They were really happy to actually get a glimpse into this world, instead of just being on the outskirts of it.”

It’s this excitement about being accepted to and attending a university — and staying to complete a degree — that has been shown to be statistically deficient among black students.

According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, which in each issue collects statistics bearing on the relative status of black and white Americans, it has become more difficult for black students to gain admittance to higher education in recent decades.

The winter 2002/2003 issue of the journal quoted findings from a Trends in College Admissions 2000 survey, which found that while the average number of applications received by state-chartered, four-year universities in the United States from black students, between 1985 and 1999, had risen from 396 to 870, the percentage of black applicants who were accepted for admission over that same period had fallen from 65 percent to 47 percent, and that those who were accepted and enrolled also fell from 59 percent to 37 percent.

That study also found that the percentage of black people among all first-time enrolled students at state-chartered, four-year universities over that period had fallen slightly, from 8.7 percent to 8.4 percent.

In addition, the summer 2002 issue of the journal quoted U.S. Census Bureau statistics that showed that, between 1980 and 2000, the percentage of all black adults older than 25 who had completed four or more years of college rose from 7.9 percent to 17.8 percent.

But the percentage of white American adults who had done the same was 34 percent.

For Andre McGee, who works in student services at Frick as a programs coordinator, the information given out at events like this are important for giving all public middle-school students, regardless of race, a better understanding of how to prepare for the college application process.

“With middle-school youth, on the whole, you have to give them an early run at actually being acclimated to what is expected of them as students as they increase upon levels of education,” he said.

To help quantify what they could do to get through college, each Frick student received a “quick list” of social, academic and professional suggestions for things to try to accomplish each school year from grades six through 12. These ranged from maintaining good study habits and a good grade point average, to developing relationships with staff at school and building a resume. They also offered advice about when to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

According to Taggert, while many of these suggestions might seem obvious to some students, she comes across plenty of young people who were never exposed to such approaches.

“I met a young man the other day from one of the city schools, and he hadn’t taken the SATs yet, and he’s in 12th grade, and it’s March,” she said.