Kenyon helping students bridge gap
In his Saturday op-ed “Rich kids pick Kenyon; OSU more diverse,” Justin Strehle referred to a recent study by the Equality of Opportunity Project, which was published in the New York Times in January. Kenyon was highlighted as one of 38 institutions with more students from the top 1 percent of the socioeconomic strata than the bottom 60 percent.
The report highlighted the relationship between growing economic inequality and student success in higher education. Yet the headline of Strehle’s piece misplaces the emphasis on the problem: We should focus not on the college choices made by the wealthy, but rather on the ways that cost limits the college choices of talented students with modest financial means. This is the problem that Kenyon is working to address.
Fundamental to this effort is Kenyon’s commitment to meet 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for all students. In other words, if we admit you to Kenyon, we will support your full financial need throughout your Kenyon experience. Meeting this need is central to our commitment to provide access to students from a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds.
Kenyon is working toward moving the needle on its socioeconomic diversity. We have increased our financial aid budget by more than 10 percent for the coming academic year, and we have joined The American Talent Initiative, a nationwide consortium of leading institutions committed to expanding access for low-income students. For the Class of 2021, we are increasing by 50 percent the number of students in our Kenyon Educational Enrichment Program, a program designed to recruit and support first-generation and underrepresented students to Kenyon.
We have strengthened our admissions office’s connections with two other programs that directly benefit low-income students in Ohio: the Kenyon Academic Partnership, which allows students to receive Kenyon classes in their high school, and Camp 4, a summer program for low-income students that is a pipeline for talented students to come to Kenyon.
Enrolling students is only part of the equation. We also need to make sure that all students move on to post-graduate success. At 85 percent, Kenyon has the highest four-year graduation rate in the state (according to the Chronicle of Higher Education College Completion Database). The rates for Pelleligible students (83 percent) and first-generation students (84 percent) are comparable. Moreover, 92 percent of Kenyon graduates report either full-time employment or acceptance/enrollment in a graduate or professional program within six months after graduation.
In other words, socioeconomically disadvantaged students not only choose Kenyon, but perhaps most importantly, they succeed here. Socioeconomic diversity improves the educational environment for everyone; a campus that is homogeneous and isolated from the surrounding community will fail to prepare students for life after graduation.
Work on expanding access to all students is far from finished, but we take great pride in our accomplishments while we recommit ourselves to the challenges ahead.
Sean Decatur President Kenyon College Gambier