Report: Covenant meets goals

UNC's Carolina Covenant scholarship program is succeeding in increasing low-income students' retention and graduation rates a new report shows.

The Covenant program which began in 2004 and saw its first graduating class last spring provides financial aid and other support services to students from low-income backgrounds.

About 1500 students currently are enrolled in the program with just more than 400 scholars in the Fall 2008 entering class.

The report released last week compares the performance of the 2004 incoming Covenant class with that of 2003 incoming students who would have been eligible for the scholarship.

About 5 percent more Covenant scholars remained enrolled by their fourth year and about 5 percent more graduated within eight semesters.

And although Covenant scholars' eight- and nine-semester graduation rates still lag behind their wealthier peers' their average GPA at graduation time is just about even.

And that officials say" means Carolina Covenant is working.

""Oh" the report was outstanding" said Fred Clark, academic coordinator for the program. It produced results much greater than what I had expected … I think that we are doing a lot of the right things.""

An official report on exactly why the program is succeeding is expected to be available by this fall" but in the meantime officials have their own theories.

First the makeup of the Covenant financial aid package — 87 percent grants with 7 percent loans and 6 percent work study — has been shown to have a positive impact on low-income students' academic success according to the report.

Shirley Ort associate provost for scholarships and student aid suggested that large grants relieve students from loan worries.

Annadele Herman a Covenant scholar also said UNC's work-study jobs pay better than other schools' and flexible supervisors and on-campus locations allow students to focus on their educations.

But officials and students alike said Covenant's success is due to much more than simply giving students financial aid.

Often generated from students' ideas additional programs include faculty staff and peer mentoring workshops on such topics as study skills and dining etiquette and social events.

Clark and assistant coordinator Michael Highland also meet one-on-one with dozens of students a week to check in" often over lunch at Top of the Hill.

Ort said it is this kind of attention to students that has really been key to the program's success.

Herman had the same opinion.

""They don't just say" ‘Here's the money; good luck""" she said. ""There's also this system behind it of people who care if you make it.""



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.