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WELFARE POLICY AND ACCESS TO HIGHER
EDUCATION
Education is the key to achieving
self-sufficiency for low-income people, and welfare policy should reflect
this fact. “From Welfare to Independence: The College Option” and
“Building Human Capital: The Impact of Post-Secondary Education on AFDC Recipients
in Five States” make very clear the value of education to welfare
recipients. Education holds enormous benefits for welfare recipients,
both professionally and in their personal lives, and education had a
prominent place in the JOBS program begun in 1988.
The 1996 welfare reforms that replaced
AFDC with TANF, however, did away with JOBS and abandoned education as a
way of helping poor women. Policy instead focused on getting women
off the welfare rolls and into a job, any job, as soon as possible.
All across the country, women dropped out of school leaving the track to a
good career for dead end jobs. This startling development was very
evident at CUNY which traditionally has been a resource for low income
people, where hundreds of female students were forced to drop out. To
address this important issue in September 1999 the Samuels Center
co-sponsored a national conference in Washington D.C. which was attended by
nearly 300 college students, academics, legislators, researchers and
activists. The attendees discussed strategies on how to work for
change at the state and local level, and began setting up a national
network of those concerned with welfare reform to allow for more sharing of
information and joint efforts. The Samuels Center is in the forefront of
these networking efforts, working to develop a national network of scholars
who study the relationship of welfare policy to higher education, and on
June 26 held a seminar in New York City, attended by thirty scholars.
Welfare and Higher Education Publications
Continuing a Commitment to the Higher Education Option: Model State Legislation,
College Programs, and Advocacy Organizations that Support Access to
Post-Secondary Education for Public Assistance Recipients
Charles Price and Tracy Steffy with Tracy McFarlane, April 2003
Community Colleges Addressing Student’s Needs: A Case Study of
LaGuardia Community College, by Marilyn Gittell and Tracy Steffy,
January 2000
Welfare Reform and the College Option: A National Conference: A
Summary of Conference Proceedings, Charles Price, March 2000.
The Benefits of College Attendance: A Case Study of BMCC, Marilyn
Gittell and Tracy Steffy, October 1998
A Survey of Services to Immigrant Populations at the City University
of New York and Immigrant Research by CUNY Faculty, by Marilyn Gittell
and Carol Archer, 1998.
Creating Social Capital at CUNY: A Comparison of Higher Education
Programs for AFDC Recipients, by Marilyn Gittell, Kirk Vandersall,
Jennifer Holdaway, Kathe Newman, January 1996.
Why Good Students Leave CUNY, by Marilyn Gittell and Jennifer
Holdaway with Laura McKenna, January 1996.
Testimony of Dr. Marilyn Gittell before the Committee on General
Welfare of the New York City Council, September 20, 1995.
The Family College at the City University: An Evaluation Report, 1995.
Building Human Capital: The Impact of Post-Secondary Education on
AFDC Recipients In Five States, by Marilyn Gittell, Jill Gross and
Jennifer Holdaway, September 1993.
Higher Education in JOBS: An Option or an Opportunity?: A Comparison
of Nine States,
by Marilyn Gittell and Sally Covington, September 1993.
Special Programs in American Colleges & Universities for
Low-Income Women
Compiled by the Howard Samuels State Management and Policy Center,1993.
From Welfare to Independence: The College Option, by Marilyn
Gittell with Margaret Schehl and Camille Fareri, March 1990
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