For Colleges and Universities
16 to 24 year old students who come from low income families are seven times more likely to drop out than those from families with higher incomes.
As tuition costs rise, the number of higher-education students who face poverty becomes more and more apparent. The Cost of Poverty Experience: College Edition allows participants to have a greater understanding of the juggling act many non-traditional, under-resourced students face on their way to transcend poverty. It also equips educators with the insights of how they can design programs to better assist these students and increase retention and completion rates.
Captured in COPE is the role that the broader community plays in their interactions with students in poverty, and how policies and systems either help or hinder progress.
COPE: College Edition was developed in partnership with Sinclair Community College.
COPE is a tool that will help your Faculty and Staff:
Improve program offerings to better assist students and increase retention and completion rates.
Enrich interactions among the faculty, staff and students.
Build stronger relationships with non-traditional and under resourced students in their classrooms.
“The College Edition of the COPE training engaged participants in the “lived poverty experience” discussion of individuals in our community. We were made aware that this experience is not limited to one isolated group. Participation in the relationship-based approach of COPE has enriched the interactions among faculty, staff and students. The outcome of this training is a unified endeavor to create social change across the college. Ongoing collaborative efforts to support students and fellow employees include the cost free food pantry, coat and clothing closet, health care clinic, and job placement services (to name a few).”
An Experience For Everyone.
The Cost of Poverty Experience has been adapted to reflect the experience of poverty in various contexts. Please click on one of the sectors below that best describes the organization that you are affiliated with to find out how COPE can help you have greater impact.