Background
On December 10th, 2023, Rhode Island College held a graduate school open house from 3:30-7pm. Representatives of the graduate programs included professors and graduate assistants, and officials from financial aid, admissions, etc., were there to answer questions. Arriving around 5:30pm and staying until close, representatives appeared to always outnumber the students. Indeed, around a dozen or two interested individuals walked through.
Currently, Rhode Island College suffers from a large downturn of enrollment in recent years due to the pandemic and other factors. However, a LinkedIn post on December 3rd, 2023, by James Tweed, dean of enrollment at the college, posted an uptick in enrollment, specifically for undergraduate admissions.
Opinion
Despite increased enrollment in undergraduate admissions, when considering applicants had a day to apply to the college for free, it’s unclear if these candidates felt pressured to apply in the moment. It will then be interesting to see how these students fare in the upcoming semesters. On the flip side, what is also unclear is if the graduate programs will observe the same enrollment increase, assuming it’s even a goal of theirs.
Bringing back the graduate school open house into context, it appeared to have low turnout, although in fairness, I have no previous observation to compare it to. My experience at the event led me to ask a variety of questions to the representatives of many of these programs in attendance. The answers I received, however, were frustrating to hear. These answers I derived lent themselves to suggesting that enrollment for graduate programs, at least for working-class adults, may not have been a goal, let alone even a thought. Documented below were some of my interactions.
- Professor representatives of programs shared similar thoughts when questioned about working-class accessibility and online programs. There did not seem to be an outstanding concern for accessibility, and online aspects were dismissed with supporting notions around a ‘community aspect’ and having in-person communication. Other comments included that it would be complicated and difficult to change the curriculum to adapt to online classes, as well as having to potentially serve a global student audience and not having enough staff to accomplish it.
- Asking how classes accommodated working-class students was often met with the answer that most classes generally start between 3-5pm (depending on the program).
- A student assistant claimed that working around 20 hours per week generally yields half to full tuition coverage by the college. To note, RIC graduate school is ~$8,000-15,000 per year ($536 per credit, in-state).
- Specifically for the Education programs requiring teacher certification, students are required, even if they are already working with a designated population, to enroll in unpaid student teaching to support another group during standard working hours.
If it wasn’t clear already, the above experiences demonstrate that these programs only appeal to a small subset of individuals and present clear barriers to working-class individuals. Several issues then arise, particularly around the lack of overall diversity and accessibility. To highlight this, I’ve addressed some of the core problematic contributors below along with suggestions. Notably, primarily due to the pandemic, many other universities in recent years have adapted some of these suggestions to further education and equity.
- Having classes start between 3-5 pm doesn’t recognize standard working hours, which generally end around 5 pm. That’s not even to say the individual has a family and other life obligations, either. Mandating classes be exclusively in-person, especially during these times, is inconvenient. With this, it’s imperative that the school support professors and staff in using and learning online-based technologies to reduce or, in some cases, eliminate in-person classes. These can include recording and posting of lectures, adopting online work assignment and grading platforms, and offering alternative work to individuals who cannot physically attend classes.
- Graduate assistantships, offering a student 20 hours per week for the potential of earning the equivalent of a tuition salary, should be changed to accommodate a livable lifestyle and encourage graduate assistants to be more involved with their work and community.
- For education programs, student teachers ought to be paid. If they’re already working with a supported, designated population, that work should count as credit. Alternatively, greatly reducing or eliminating the associated tuition cost and, in some combination, structuring creditable student teacher hours around a student’s normal day-to-day job and activities.
In a nutshell, despite offering some of the cheapest graduate tuition in the New England area, Rhode Island College is doing a disservice by being inaccessible to its own community. They’ve had several years to adapt and accommodate, and instead, have ignored what the college should appeal to: a diverse, working class adult community, accessible to all.