EDAD 522: Trends Project -
Debating Free College

Year 1 / Summer 2021 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021

DESCRIPTION

For EDAD 522 - College Students’ Characteristics and Cultures (led by Dr. Michelle M. Garcia and Dr. Alisia Kirkwood), we were tasked with creating a Trends Analysis & Presentation. Our team - Nonzenzele Aldonza, Gabriel Amaya, Brannon Andrews, Hedrick Flores, Shaquille Manley, and Connie Oh - chose to research and present on the trend of "Debating Free College." Our team was tasked to create a 30-minute presentation using only 1 infographic. We presented our trends analysis to the class on Wednesday, June 23, 2021.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Student will be able to analyze the trend of free college through research and present the summarized findings to their peers and professors through an infographic.

2. Student will be able to apply fundamental leadership and organization theories (e.x. planning, budgeting, human resource management, etc.) to the trend of "Free College" and how it will impact student affairs professionals.

3. Student will be able to evaluate the impact of free college on historically minoritized and marginalized student populations.

LEARNING DOMAINS

• Leadership

• Social Justice & Advocacy

REFLECTION

The Trends Analysis Project initially felt like a daunting task for me. We were tasked with presenting for 30 minutes on a single topic, with just one infographic! As someone who heavily leans on engagement tools in my presentation and facilitation style, this was a significant challenge. I am used to utilizing virtual engagement tools like Padlet, Jamboard, and more. Even in-person, I am used to using hands-on tools like flip charts, post-it notes, and more. This definitively forced me to get creative on how to create an engaging presentation with minimal tools at hand.

To create an engaging presentation, we knew this had to be a team effort. My team and I agreed to do independent research on our topic, then regroup to present our key findings. Interestingly, as we presented the articles we read independently, certain key themes and topics came to the surface. We organically decided that some key topics we wanted to touch in relation to free college were: 1) the history of the debate around free college; 2) the pros and cons of free college; 3) examples of existing programs; 4) present-day political debates surrounding free college; 5) how free college impacts different student populations, particularly historically minoritized or marginalized student populations; and 6) how we can apply our research on free college to student affairs practitioners today.

This was most certainly a team effort – each team member decided to tackle a different topic, but we were actively sharing resources and knowledge from our own research to make sure that everyone was aware of all of the themes in the presentation. Preparing our infographic and deciding how to present our topic was another challenge. Our team decided that an infographic in almost a poster-like format would best summarize our thoughts and research.

I initially felt nervous about this project, but the more I got into it, the more I found myself enjoying the process. I took the lead on the topic "how we can apply our research on free college to student affairs practitioners today." I found the process of trying to find connections from our research to practice was genuinely enjoyable. Based on our team's research, we knew that free college expanded access to college for low-income and/or students of color. If so, what can student affairs professionals do now to prepare to serve the incoming potential wave of students that have traditionally been excluded from higher education? The process of brainstorming and predicting what the future may hold for our practice was genuinely fascinating. I found that fundamental leadership and organization theories that I learned in previous courses came in handy in the brainstorming process. For example, I started to think about who would be leaned on the most to serve these populations of students (human resources management). I wondered how campuses could start to shift their budgets long-term to maintain access for low-income students in the case that a future presidential administration reverses course on free college (budgeting). This is not a skill set that I lean on frequently in my daily work, so I had a lot of fun applying those leadership topics and theories to the concept of free college.

Lastly, throughout our presentation, our team wanted to emphasize equity and the impact free college would have on low-income and students of color. In an article by Gándara & Li (2020), the data showed how Promise Programs that gave free tuition to students at 2-year institutions nationwide positively impacted enrollment rates for students of color, particularly Black and Latinx female students. This was a point that we really wanted to drive home. Based our research, we did present the nuances in the debate around free college. For example, prior to our research, we never imagined that free college programs from the Biden administration were projected to have a negative impact on private colleges. We presented this potential negative consequence on free college to our class. However, we hoped that people took away the information on the financial barriers to college and how free college programs would positively impact the access that students have to higher education from our presentation. Overall, I am really proud of our infographic and presentation. I appreciated my team's work and collaboration every step of the way!

REFERENCES

Gándara, D., & Li, A. (2020). Promise for Whom? “Free-College” Programs and Enrollments by Race and Gender Classifications at Public, 2-Year Colleges. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(4), 603–627. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720962472

Murakami, K. (2021, January 25). A Threat to Private Colleges? Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/25/bidens-free-college-plan-would-increase-enrollment-public-colleges-hurt-privates

Smith, A. (2021, April 28). California looks for aid from Biden's plans for tuition-free community college and higher Pell Grants. EdSource. https://edsource.org/2021/california-looks-for-more-federal-aid-from-bidens-plans-to-increase-pell-grants-and-fund-tuition-free-community-college/653873