Opportunity in Our Backyard: How Collaboration on Summer Youth Employment Can Benefit Both Universities and Local Communities

Attaining a college degree is a well-recognized path to economic mobility in the United States, but enrollment gaps among students by family income persist. Interestingly, recent research finds this disparity to be particularly visible in communities where top ranked universities reside. In these co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPoverty Solutions, University of Michigan
Main Authors Naraharisett, Sruthi, Peterson, Natalie, Erb-Downward, Jennifer
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published Poverty Solutions, University of Michigan 01.03.2019
Subjects
College Students
Employment Programs
Job Training
Low Income Students
Partnerships in Education
Student Employment
Summer Programs
Youth Employment
Michigan
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Summary:Attaining a college degree is a well-recognized path to economic mobility in the United States, but enrollment gaps among students by family income persist. Interestingly, recent research finds this disparity to be particularly visible in communities where top ranked universities reside. In these communities, residents with no-affiliation to their local university face low rates of economic mobility from one generation to the next and universities see low rates of application and enrollment from nearby neighborhoods struggling with poverty. This pattern is reflective of the deep economic divides that exist between the families of students attending selective universities and local residents. On average, the median parent household income of college students at these schools is more than $62,000 greater than the median household income of residents in the community surrounding the college campus ($116,687 compared to $54,174, respectively). Many schools are now actively seeking ways to bridge the divide between students and the surrounding community through local engagement and improved recruitment. This brief describes a unique partnership between Washtenaw County, MichiganWorks! and the University of Michigan (UM) to pilot a university-engaged Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and highlights opportunities this model presents for both universities and local youth. Data from this brief come from the first year of the partnership.