The Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative (CPI) is being hailed as a success by College Count$, an external evaluator that partnered with Metis Associates and the Arkansas Research Center for the purposes of this study.
In the new study, College Count$ found that 52 percent of the 27,517 CPI participants enrolled in the program between 2006 and 2013 obtained a certificate or degree. That rate is more than double the completion rate of non-CPI two-year college students enrolled in school during the same timeframe.
“I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and I have to say that it is very heartening to see some success that far exceeds anyone’s expectations,” Katherine Boswell, a national education policy consultant who led the College Count$ study, told Diverse.
What makes the CPI all the more remarkable is that it targets students who are among Arkansas’ most economically disadvantaged. To qualify for the program, participants must be custodial parents who rely on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars.
The overwhelming majority—90 percent—of CPI program participants are women, and their average age is 31.
Students without a degree or their GED start returning to college to brush up their qualifications once they realize it is practically impossible to get by on minimum wage without turning to public assistance or family support, said Karon Rosa, program director at the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
“The arithmetic of life doesn’t work if you’re 31 and you’re making minimum wage,” Rosa said. You can’t afford rent, transportation, child care.” Most jobs require a degree or credential nowadays. The Arkansas minimum wage is $8.50 per hour.
