New partnership supports adults heading back to college, possible career booster

DELAWARE – “It is certainly an issue, not necessarily at the university, but just nationwide as it relates to the number of students who’ve started college and for whatever reason life happened and they had to drop out,” DSU Assistant Director Dean School of Graduate Adults and Extended Studies Terry Jeffries said. 

Delaware State University is looking to help those adult learners complete their degree programs. It’s all thanks to a new partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. “We started doing a recruitment effort for those individuals who had 90 credits and had dropped out for whatever reason and were in good academic standing,” Jeffries said.

DSU will be home to the new Joint Center for HBCU Non-Traditional Completion.  The center will develop best practices and provide outreach services for other HBCU’s who serve those students.

Terry Jefferies with DSU says their flexible online programs will be attractive to most adults with already busy schedules. “They did not have to leave their homes and didn’t have to leave their communities. If they were working, they could still continue to work,” Jeffries said.

Jefferies also tells us getting back to classroom will be a way for many students to advance in their current career fields. “That credential was actually preventing many of them from a promotion on their job or being able to look for another opportunity professionally,” Jefferies said.

“The data shows that individuals who actually complete their baccalaureate degree are more likely to earn more in their lifetime than those who have not.”

DSU also tells us this move will remove the stigma surrounding life-long learning because that doesn’t look just one way.