I’m not sure when this was actually published, but the author was until recently the editor in chief of the Bard Free Press.
The Mom in Your Math Class
A look at the Bard Return to College Program
By J.p. Lawrence
<a href=“http://jplawrence.4ormat.com/return”>http://jplawrence.4ormat.com/return</a>
I find a few things interesting about the program and what he reports about it:
<li>Low graduation rate. I would be interested to know how this compares to other small non-traditional programs such as Yale and Brown. Why do so many students fail to complete the degree? Is it the ostracizing experience of being an outsider living off-campus in an otherwise cloistered resident community? Is it the very small cohort of non-traditional peers? Is it the required Senior Project at Bard? (and if so what are the non-trad outcomes at other capstone schools?) Is it limited financial aid? Is it lack of discernment, admitting students who are not prepared for a rigorous curriculum?</li>
<li>They received the Osher Foundation grant and did not get enough participation for it to be renewed. Is Bard really committed to the program, or are they just taking in the students who show up on their doorstep and leaving it at that? Reed College is sustaining an Osher fund despite apparently putting even less effort into publicizing their accessibility to non-trad students than Bard. What accounts for the difference?</li>
<li>“Regrettably, I’d have to say it’s not a real user-friendly system.” As I have been comparing a variety of these programs to develop a list of targets for my own impending return to college, I’ve found this is a common complaint about many non-traditional admission programs. The gate may be open to you, but the path is unpaved, rough, strewn with obstacles, and in many cases rarely trod. There is a looming opportunity for more schools to not only make smooth the way <em>in</em>, but also the way <em>through</em>.</li>