STC and UTPA students show the future of higher education

Edinburg resident Frank Lara said he "majored in fraternity and hanging out with friends" when he went to college 10 years ago.

Lara had enrolled at the University of Texas-Pan American after graduating from Edinburg North High School in 1999 but dropped out after his sophomore year.

"No one was there to push me. If you didn't show up, no one cared," said Lara, now 27. "I don't think I was ready (for college)."

Even without a college degree, Lara was able to get supervisory and managerial positions at different businesses before landing a job with the Mission Chamber of Commerce, then the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce where he works on business management and marketing projects.

But if he wanted to advance his career further, he would need to go back to school, he said. Last fall, Lara began his second stint in college at South Texas College, this time working toward a business and public administration degree. So far he's earned three A's and a C, he said.

Lara's path toward a college degree will become more of the norm in years to come. A report released earlier this month from the Chronicle of Higher Education's research wing shows that more students will be going back to school to increase their credentials for the job market and will need more flexibility in how they receive their education.

The Upper Rio Grande Valley's two main institutions of higher learning, STC and UTPA, are already serving students who are considered "nontraditional," meaning they either left college and returned later in life or began their college careers long after leaving high school or earning a general equivalency diploma.

Chronicle Research Services, the research wing of the Chronicle of Higher Education, included in its report "The College of 2020: Students" that minority students will outnumber white students on campuses and that the average students will be older than they are today.

A Second Chance

The rest of the nation is noticing the future looks like the Valley.

Excelencia in Education, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that studies higher education trends among Latinos, featured STC President Shirley Reed and former UTPA President Blandina "Bambi" Cárdenas in a report it released earlier this month about what Hispanic-serving institutions are doing to better serve their students.

Reed told Excelencia her college provides remedial courses for students who are not academically prepared for college and requires all new students to see their advisers at least three times a semester.

Cárdenas said in the report the university increased the diversity of its faculty and added support programs to its students.

The two institutions also signed an agreement earlier this year that would make it easier for students to transfer from STC to UTPA.

"We're really changing ourselves rather than changing students," said Luzelma Canales, interim associate dean for community engagement and corporate training for STC.

Because the college has a high population of nontraditional students and students who are the first in their families to go to college, STC has started programs to make their education experience more personal to help them get through school. Last school year STC started its Beacon mentoring program, which connects a faculty or staff member with students in gatekeeper courses to make sure they succeed in school. That program is part of a national study.

"The rest of the nation soon will look like how the Valley looks (now)," Canales said.

In fact, the institutions could serve as models for what other universities and colleges to refer to when considering making changes to help their Hispanic students in the future, said Ana Maria Rodriguez, senior vice provost for undergraduate studies at UTPA.

Reports like the ones Excelencia released help promote the Valley institutions, but more needs to be done to get the word out.

"We're the best-kept secret in town," Rodriguez said.

Over the past several years, the university has made significant changes, including altering its on-campus instruction schedule and expanding its online course offerings so that students don't have to travel to campus as often. The university is also providing childcare for students with families so they won't have to miss class, and expanding financial aid, Rodriguez said.

So far it seems to be helping.

The percentage of students returning to campus from their freshman to sophomore year has increased from 61.4 percent in 2000 to 71.5 percent this school year, she said.

And while the university's four-year graduation rate has remained flat, its six-year graduation rate continues to improve, Rodriguez said.

In 2004 just 26.7 percent of students graduated within six years. In 2008, 36.4 percent graduated within six years. Those numbers are not ideal, but they are showing improvement in the university's ability to graduate students, Rodriguez said.

Many of UTPA's students are unable to complete a degree in four years because they have to work, but very few drop out. Most students take several years to earn a degree, Rodriguez said.

Ahead of the Curve

For Regina Welch-Lopez, going to college gave her additional confidence and helped her redefine herself. The 36-year-old married mother of two had to drop out of high school at 15 years old to support her and her brother. She got married a few years later and became a stay-at-home mother.

Welch-Lopez said she hadn't considered going back to school until after she started volunteering at her sons' school. School staff and other mothers who had gone back to school encouraged her to go to college.

"All it takes is a chain reaction," said Welch-Lopez.

She began taking courses at STC's Mid-Valley campus in Weslaco three years ago toward a degree in English.

Welch-Lopez admits she felt like she didn't belong in the classroom after a 17-year break at first. She continued nonetheless, because she knew receiving a degree would allow her to provide a better life for her family.

There were times when family emergencies would arise, prompting Welch-Lopez to drop out of school. But her professors encouraged her to stay the course.

"My government professor said, ‘Take it one day,'" she said.

Her intimidation and frustration with school soon subsided. She became president of the campus' chapter of Amnesty International and was recently hired by the college as a tutor for fellow students. Many of the students she tutors are like her: older than the traditional 18-24-year-old student group, parents and people coming back to school to better their lives.

She plans to complete her associate degree work this summer.

"You can have it all," she said.