Greetings!

 

Over the last few months, I have shared with you the ways in which Unity College is working to be more accessible, affordable, and flexible with the intention of reaching a more diverse student population. Some of these initiatives have gone against the traditional model of higher education, which is exactly the point. In a letter a couple of weeks ago, I talked about the state of higher education, the challenges many of our peers are facing, and how Unity College is doing things differently to ensure our long-term sustainability as an institution.

 

This week, I am proud to say that we are starting to see the initial steps of our Path Forward paying off by way of directly benefiting our students.

 

Last week, we were excited to learn that five out of the eight open positions with the Maine Warden Service were filled by Unity College students. This speaks to the flexibility of the Hybrid Learning program and how it allows for students to take advantage of job and internship opportunities, without having to put their degree on hold. You’ll see an example in the story about how current student, Garret Moody, was able to accept a full-time role with the Maine Warden Service, while still working to finish his degree at his own pace. Historically, we have seen time and time again students having an excellent internship experience and employers eager to keep students on as employees once the summer ends, and the students were faced with the difficult decision to return to school to finish their degree while losing out on this opportunity, or to risk not finishing their degree to take the job. Perhaps you even found yourself in this position. Now students do not have to choose, and that is definitely a step in the right direction.

 

 

On March 10, we shared a press release about how Unity College has seen a 70% decrease in students borrowing alternative loans while enrollment doubles. Data collected in February 2021 showed that students are taking out fewer alternative loans in both Distance Education and Hybrid Learning by over 70 percent. This has directly led to the broadest and most racially diverse student population in the College’s history. We recognize that this is a year of financial uncertainty, and that the return to offering in-person courses may have an impact on this number. However, we are glad to see that Unity College has been an accessible option for our students during a pandemic. We are able to use this and other data to determine how best to offer affordable and meaningful learning opportunities for our students going forward as we continue to reach new audiences.