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THELOQUITUR.COM
VOL. LVI, ISSUE 14
THURSDAY, JAN. 22, 2015
Cabrini goes test-optional, adopts Cabrini freezes tuition until May ‘16 essay to application process BY JOEY RETTINO Managing Editor Cabrini has adopted a new test-optional policy for the undergraduate application process. An announcement by Dr. Donald Taylor, president of Cabrini College, released Jan. 8, states that “ample evidence demonstrates that standardized admission tests are poor indicators of student success,” and went on to say that the tests “put low-income students at a disadvantage.” Cabrini is following in the footsteps of several other schools in the Pennsylvania area including Duquesne University, Temple University and Bryn Mawr College that have all gone test-optional in the last semester alone. According to Taylor there are “inherent socio-economical biases” in standardized tests that leave students coming from financially-struggling school districts at an unfair disadvantage. “It’s not a fair apples-to-apples comparison,” Taylor said. “They’re [students in affluent school districts] teaching to the test, while other schools can’t afford to do that.” The one drawback that the
college will face in the wake of becoming test-optional is that traditionally students have been placed in classes partially based the information afforded to the college by the incoming students standardized test scores. “They [faculty and administration] had to make sure they had the instruments in place to show how they were going to place students in math, language or the honors program,” Taylor said. Becoming test-optional is not the only change Cabrini is making to the undergraduate admission process. According to Robert Reese, vice president of Enrollment Management at Cabrini, admissions is now requiring an essay portion of the application which will be looked at along with the prospective students’ letter of recommendations, high school grade point average and other supporting documents. At the end of the day it is all about Cabrini catering to the students that they have pledged to offer education to. “I think Cabrini is going to get the kind of student that have
traditionally come here. I don’t really see us capturing a huge number of students just because we’re test opt i o n a l ,” Reese said.
“What I see is the accessibility for first-generation type students, the Hispanic students, the other minority students— this is an option for them to have access to a quality education.”
@JOEYRETTINO GRAPHIC DESIGNED BY JOEY RETTINO
BY JOEY RETTINO Managing Editor Cabrini has chosen to freeze undergraduate tuition fees at $28,932 until May 2016. In addition to tuition fees, room and board will also stay as is for the 2015-2016 school year. This decision comes in the wake of the college’s largest incoming class in six years and falls in accordance with the college’s pledge to keep tuition and fees under $30,000 dollars until may 2015. The school community first was made aware of the school’s decision in a press release that was released on Jan. 8. “We’re going to fix the costs, really watch our expenses and expand revenue in other ways,” Dr. Donald Taylor, president of Cabrini College, said, “all to allow us to keep the undergraduate experience as affordable as we can. It’s the right thing to do.” In recent years, the school has staid true to keeping tuition and fees low, but what happens after May 2016 is still an unknown. According to Robert Reese, vice president of Enrollment Management at Cabrini College, by that date, “there are a million things that can happen” due to
the multiple influences that affect higher education, but he believes Cabrini will do anything it can to keep tuition as low as possible. With tuition being capped, less money will be going into the school. “Without the school increasing tuition, the school will potentially lose revenue,” Reese said, “if we make less revenue it makes us have to be more smart about how we spend our money.” Taylor seems to agree with Reese, and believes that if the school works at diversifying other streams of income, other than tuition, such as aggressively going after grants and fundraising opportunities, the school should remain in good fiscal shape. Jonathan A. Strout, director of guidance at Washington Township High School, Washington Township, New Jersey, believes that lowering the price could actually raise revenue for Cabrini. “I do think some students and parents rule schools out right out of the gate by looking at the sticker price,” Strout said, “seeing that a school has a cap or feeling like a school is offering a good deal would make a difference.” @JOEYRETTINO
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Cabrini initiates partnerships with 8 high schools, La Salle University BY ERICA ABBOTT News Editor Cabrini has recently made progress in expanding its educational reach to high school students. On Dec. 6, Cabrini signed partnerships with eight local high schools. “It’s really about creating educational pathways for students so that they can see themselves going onto college [and] being successful,” Dr. Don Taylor, president of Cabrini, said. The eight high schools included in the educational partnerships include AIM Academy, Archbishop Carroll High School, Bethlehem Catholic High School, Cardinal O’Hara High School, Hill Top Preparatory, Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School, Pope John Paul II High School and Woodlynde School, according to the press release. These partnerships will allow high school juniors and seniors to earn up to 30 college credits before they even officially enroll in college. Credits can be earned through dual credit, summer programs and additional educational programs.The benefits of these partnerships, according to
Taylor, include the possibility of graduating in three to three and a half years, therefore cutting their debt. It also gives the opportunity of doing a dual major, minor or certificate if they still graduate in four years. Should a student enroll somewhere other than Cabrini, a majority of the courses will be transferable, depending on the transfer policies at that particular school. Many of them are core classes or niche classes that are of specific interest. Students will have a Cabrini transcript to present to another school if they decide not to attend Cabrini. Taylor hopes to create more educational pathways as well. One year from now, he hopes to have 15 or 20 partnerships, including institutions that have similar missions. “Cabrini was really founded to serve immigrants, first-generation students, underrepresented minority students and so we started with Catholic high schools so we are building strong partnerships with them.”
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Cabrini signed partnerships with eight local high schools on Dec. 6 and partnered with La Salle University for a 4+1 educational pathway on Dec. 7. @ERICA_ABBOTT
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