BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
South Bronx resident Darius
Reed had dreams to be a
data analyst and was on track
to graduate from the University
of Buffalo as the fi rst in
his family. But pricey tuition
combined with tumult in his
personal life and the COVID-19
pandemic forced him to drop
out in early-2020, during his junior
year. His post-collegiate resume
is now fi lled with shifts in
the gig economy and inconsistent
employment where he has
not earned higher than $25,000
a year.
“I had these dreams to be
something, and I see the friends
from my sophomore year doing
their dreams jobs and it sucks,”
Reed told the Bronx Times.
“Without that degree, I feel
stuck and I don’t have enough
(money) to pay tuition.”
Nearly 1 in 5 Bronx residents
have college credits but are
without a degree — the highest
rate in New York City — according
to a January report from
Center for an Urban Future
(CUF), a public policy think
tank based in Manhattan.
Without a degree, many New
Yorkers in the city’s workforce
fi nd themselves underemployed
or unable to earn sustainable
wages to support their family.
However, analysts from CUF
suggest that to help a reported
141,539 working-age Bronx residents,
ones with some college
education but no degree, attain
that elusive degree, the Adams
administration and New York
City Council should replicate
an innovative initiative from
Tennessee that incentives a return
to the state’s public community
colleges to complete a
credential.
“In NYC’s economy today,
a college credential has never
been more important for landing
a well-paying job,” said Eli
Dvorkin, Center for an Urban
Future’s editorial & policy director
said. “Decades ago, there
were more jobs that were accessible
to New Yorkers without
a college credential that could
pay a sustainable family-wage .”
In 2017, Tennessee launched
a fi rst-of-its-kind initiative, Tennessee
Reconnect, with roughly
31,000 adults enrolling into the
program. The program was a
success, as 61% of participating
3K
Pre-K
For All
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 6 FEBRUARY 18-24, 2022 BTR
students earned a degree or
stayed enrolled and more than
2,000 students completed a credential.
A similar program in New
York City, Dvorkin suggested,
would incentive and enable
670,271 working-age residents
with some college credits — an
estimated several thousand
New Yorkers New Yorkers are a
semester or two away from a degree
— to return to CUNY and
earn a credential to boost their
chances of landing a solid job in
the labor market.
A accordingt to academic
researcher University of the
People reports that a student’s
fi nancial situation is the most
common reason for dropping
out of college.
“In order for a program like
this to work, it needs to make a
college credential attainable for
New Yorkers who have a lot of
other competing demands on
their time,” said Dvorkin. “The
reality is our higher education
system isn’t designed to support
working adults, parents, and
In 2017, Tennessee launched a fi rst-of-its-kind initiative, Tennessee Reconnect,
with roughly 31,000 adults enrolling into the program.
other New Yorkers for whom
college isn’t their one and only
pursuit.”
On an annual basis, bachelor’s
degree holders earn about
$32,000 more than those whose
highest degree is a high school
diploma, according to the Association
of Public and Landgrant
Universities (APLU). The
earnings gap between college
graduates and those with even
less education widens further.
The COVID-19 pandemic
further widened the gap for college
credentialed workers and
non-credential holders, and
industries where college accreditation
is prioritized — the
technology sector for one — recovered
quicker economically
during the pandemic.
“What really jumped out
about Tennessee Connect was
how possible it is for New York
City to make a lot more progress
in boosting college attainment
by really focusing on
those New Yorkers who are already
so close (to getting a degree),”
Dvorkin said.
The program could also be
a source of equitable advancement,
as according to CUF, 21%
of working-age Black New Yorkers,
17% of Hispanic New Yorkers,
11% of white New Yorkers,
and 9% of Asian New Yorkers
have college credits but no degree.
Additionally, Black and
Hispanic women comprise
35% of working-age New Yorkers
with some college but no
degree, despite making up just
26% of all working-age New
Yorkers.
Roughly 20% of Bronx residents
have some college credits: report
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