New Article in The Atlantic Magazine: When a College Takes on American Poverty

The Atlantic just published an article by Marcella Bombardieri on the concerted and comprehensive efforts of Amarillo College, a community college in Texas, to address student poverty.

From the article:

"What separates Amarillo College from most of its peers is not any particular program, but how much it focuses on addressing the effects of poverty. The school and Lowery-Hart [the college president] are being watched by college leaders all over the country, because finding realistic solutions for student poverty could be transformative for the U.S. higher-education system." ...

"A number of signs suggest Amarillo College is doing better by its students than it did just a few years ago. The graduation rate is rising, more students are studying full-time, and students of color are doing as well as white students, according to Collin Witherspoon, the college’s executive director of analytics and institutional research. But some of Lowery-Hart’s biggest bets have yet to prove effective, and there are at least a few professors who question whether the fixation on poverty is in students’ best interests."

The full text of the article can be access by clicking here.