Some at NCCU get head start

Summer classes' goal is retention

DURHAM -- If applicants to N.C. Central University who don't quite meet minimum requirements want to enroll as freshmen, they first must spend five weeks of their summer on campus.

The university this week mandated that applicants with high school grade point averages below 2.5 or SAT scores below 680 must take part -- and successfully complete -- the Aspiring Eagles program, created last year to better prepare young students for college and keep them there.

A chief goal of the program is to increase NCCU's retention rate. Like many public universities in North Carolina, NCCU has seen many freshmen drop out; about 30 percent who enrolled in fall 2005 did not return for their sophomore year. That's close to the national average, though a bit worse than the average for the 16-campus UNC system, which includes NCCU.

The Aspiring Eagles program is an acknowledgement, NCCU officials say, that some students come to campus without the proper math, reading, writing and test-taking skills. But the officials also insist those students are far from a lost cause.

"The potential is there," said Provost Beverly Washington Jones, who refers to these students as "diamonds in the rough." "They just need more support and enhancement."

Courses are taught by eight faculty members, and students receive a structured, personal introduction to college so they don't get lost in the crowd. The residential summer program offers small-group study and plenty of personal attention.

"We want them to get a feel for being on campus and not going home every weekend," said Debra Parker, the program director. "They will be successful in college if they just have some enhancement -- not remediation, but enhancement."

Building Eagle spirit

The Aspiring Eagles program began last year with 50 students who lived together for five weeks over the summer while taking seven credit hours. The close-knit nature of the program -- these students are together all the time -- helped foster a sense of responsibility and confidence, Jones and others said. As freshmen this past year, students in the program occupied four of five freshman class officer positions and took part in a slew of other extracurricular activities, Parker said. The program demands a lot of the students, she said. On some days, when students are giving presentations or taking part in career planning, there's even a dress code requirement.

This summer, NCCU officials expect 100 students to take part in the program, but it is mandatory only for those applicants without the minimum GPA or SAT scores. Thus far, about 15 students are signed up, though more are expected, Parker said.

At NCCU and around higher education, administrators are keyed in to the need for better student performance. Last fall, UNC system President Erskine Bowles sounded an alarm on the matter, demanding that all public universities retain more students and improve graduation rates.

UNC campuses measure graduation rates over six-year spans. At NCCU, just 44.9 percent of students who enrolled in 1999 graduated within six years; the system average was 59.1 percent. At N.C. State University, 70.5 percent of students graduated within six years; at UNC-Chapel Hill, 83.7 percent did so.

NCCU is a historically black institution that ballooned to 8,600 students over the past five years under a growth mandate from the UNC system. While enrollment boomed, the average SAT score of incoming freshmen stayed essentially level. And the retention rate -- the percentage of freshmen who return as sophomores -- dipped from about 75 percent in 2005 to 70.8 percent last year.

Last month, UNC system officials began floating the idea of tougher admissions standards. Though there is no clear proposal yet, one idea under consideration would raise the minimum grade point average for high school students who want to go to a UNC campus. It's unclear what that threshold would be, but data show that students who enter UNC campuses with a high school grade point average below a C don't fare well, with only one quarter earning a diploma within six years.