Less retention, more satisfaction

By Raena Hunter Doty Staff Writer Massachusetts enrollment in public universities declined leading up to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, FSU has been highly focused on raising student enrollment and retention numbers. Much of this work is highly commendable. Many barriers to success in higher education exist, such as high tuition, opaque admissions processes, and lack of support for students transitioning from high school to college. These barriers are especially high for anyone who faces economic hardship and first-generation students who may lack generational knowledge of higher education. Certainly we should be working to remove these barriers. Especially in an age where diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack, I don’t mean to argue for a return to the status quo of making processes intentionally more difficult as a way of gatekeeping education. But as I look at FSU’s own rhetoric around student admissions and retention, I can’t help but feel as though we often set students up for failure. Personally, I am on track to finish my degree within a “standard” four-year timeframe - in three years, actually. But the same can’t be said for any of my closest role models - my parents and siblings. My mother never completed a college degree. She got pregnant with my oldest sister at 17 and went into the workforce to support her family, and though she returned to school in her 30s, she never finished because of the birth of her third child. Today, she’s a successful super vice president at a national company - not in spite of her lack of degree but because of her many varied life experiences. My father dropped out of his classics major when he was in his 20s, and only returned for his bachelor’s in cyber security during his 40s. Today, he works as a security architect for Missouri’s largest energy provider, and he completed his master’s degree while working. Of my four sisters, three went to college immediately out of high school, and only one managed to finish in four years. The eldest, who struggled immensely in school her first time and didn’t finish in four years, went back for a master’s degree in her 30s with entirely new career goals. Today, she’s a therapist and finds immense satisfaction in her work. The second eldest went to college for journalism and never worked as a journalist - she worked for an advertising company, then went back for her master’s and became an English teacher. Today, she works an administrative role at a private school that serves many students from low-income families. My second youngest sister dropped out of college, where she initially wanted to get certified as a speech-language pathologist, then she wanted to get a degree in business so she could support herself as a photographer. Today, she’s a manager at a local credit union, where she’s consistently working her way up the ladder and constantly involved at her workplace and in the local community. And my youngest sister, who didn’t go to college at all? Because she graduated in 2020, she narrowly missed the opportunity to graduate high school with a cosmetology license, but she put her two years of cosmetology school to use as a manager at a beauty supply store, then pivoted into retail at a small business. Today, she’s a manager at a St. Louis small business, and on the side she’s starting a nonprofit organization promoting fat positivity and body liberation in the greater St. Louis area. I share these stories as a narrative of hope for anyone who feels uncertain or scared, but also as a reminder that no one knows where their life is going when they’re 18 years old. You can be convinced you’re going to work in a salon or translate Latin for a living - or whatever it was my father thought he’d do for a living with a classics degree - and be wrong. And it’s usually better to make that change, take that leap, than to sink your costs into a degree or career you don’t love. So when we talk about increasing retention at FSU, I want to make sure we’re doing it for the right reasons. Are we trying to break down barriers of access and ensure students aren’t leaving because they’re facing inequity? Or are we cultivating a rhetoric that discourages the self-exploration and growth of students who are mostly fresh out of high school? I commend the state of Massachusetts for making two years of community college free for all residents, because this reduces economic barriers to this kind of exploration and growth. And next time someone drops out after their first semester, yes, we should assess and ensure there are no barriers holding them back from success. But we should also look at abolishing systems in place that punish students for dropping out, because it’s not inherently a failure or a shame to leave higher education - maybe they just discovered something about themselves. That’s exactly what we should be encouraging.