Early Bird

Scholarships, degree-completion resources help adults finish what they started

New program provides wraparound support to adult learners and transfer students whose educational journeys have been interrupted.

By Matt Watson

November 23, 2021

Metropolitan State University of Denver has received a $5.7 million Finish What You Started grant from the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative. The University intends to use that funding to recruit and serve adults who have some college credit from MSU Denver or elsewhere but who have not been enrolled for the past two semesters. Half of the grant money will go directly to students in the form of scholarships.

The University plans to support 1,000 students who meet these criteria over the next three years, starting with a $1,000 scholarship in each student’s first semester – roughly the equivalent of a free course. Students supported by the grant will also receive access to emergency funds, an assigned pathway navigator and peer mentorship to help them successfully reengage with their degree pathway.

Mary Sauceda, Ed.D., associate vice president of Enrollment Management at MSU Denver, said the extra support for students who are returning to the University, or who are transferring in after taking time off, will be a “game-changer.”

“It’s one thing to bring the student in through the door, but it’s another thing to support them throughout the entire process to ensure that they finish. And with this program, that is what we’re going to be able to do,” Sauceda said.

MSU Denver has an average undergraduate-student age of 25 and a long history of educating adult students. Over 50% of Roadrunners are transfer students as well, so the grant program reinforces an existing transfer pipeline to the University with resources to better serve students, Sauceda said.

The FWYS program will be housed under the newly branded Orientation, Transition and Re-engagement Office led by Director Megan Scherzberg, Ph.D.

Scherzberg said national research has shown that students who make an early connection with a professor or staff member are more likely to remain and succeed in school. That can be a challenge for stopped-out students and transfer students, who are more likely to work or have families than students coming directly from high school.

“Transfer students come to campus ready to have a career-driven conversation. They’re ready to get connected to the faculty in their departments and start rolling,” Scherzberg said.

As the University hones its strategies to better serve students who have been out of school for a year or more, faculty members and administrators have been getting creative with ways to meet students where they are in their lives. That includes emphasis on providing college credit for work or military experience in the form of Prior Learning Assessments, using the Individualized Degree Program to help students create their own tailored degrees and offering classes outside of the standard fall/spring/summer semester windows.

“It’s possible we need to identify innovative and flexible structures as they relate to options for students, specifically adult learners, to complete degrees,” she said. “At the end of the day, the goal is to save students money and time and get them to degrees.”