Arizona leaders discuss new models for college success

By Stacy Mantle
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For years, conversations regarding college access largely focused on getting students accepted.

Educators and policymakers across Arizona are increasingly confronting a more difficult question: What happens after first-generation students arrive on campus?

That shift was at the center of a recent Higher Education Roundtable hosted by Stand for Children Arizona, where students, higher education leaders and advocacy organizations discussed a growing reality facing Arizona’s future workforce: enrollment alone is no longer enough.

“What is particularly important about today’s discussion is that we are not only talking about barriers,” said Enrique Davis Mazlum, Arizona state director for UnidosUS. “We are talking about solutions.”

Arizona’s urgency is partly demographic. Latino students now comprise about 51% of Arizona’s K-12 student population, according to UnidosUS remarks during the roundtable.

“The future sustainability and competitiveness of Arizona’s higher education system depend on it,” Mazlum said, referring to improving completion outcomes for Latino and first-generation students.

The discussion reflected a broader national trend. While college enrollment among first-generation and Latino students has risen substantially during the past decade, colleges are increasingly recognizing that financial aid packages alone do not solve underlying barriers many students face once enrolled.

Beyond tuition: the hidden costs of college

Students at the roundtable repeatedly described a system that remains difficult to navigate for families without prior higher education experience.

“I didn’t know how to do any of it,” said Keilila Hamren, a student at Flagstaff High School, describing financial aid applications and scholarship systems. “I never heard any of these words before.”

Several students described confusion surrounding FAFSA requirements, scholarship applications, financial terminology and institution-specific systems like the CSS Profile and IDOC verification process.

“There’s still cracks, there’s still barriers,” said Giovanni Sanchez Hernandez, recipient of the Rennaissance scholarship. “You’re still kind of gatekept depending on the institution that you’re going to.”

According to federal data, the maximum Pell Grant now covers less than one-third of the average cost of attending a four-year public university, a sharp decline from previous decades. UnidosUS researchers noted during the discussion that rising tuition, inflation and housing costs have left many families with little financial flexibility.

Students and advocates said the result is that many first-generation students are balancing coursework alongside jobs, caregiving responsibilities and family financial support.

“College and your family aren’t separate experiences for a lot of Latino students,” said Magin Sanchez, senior policy analyst for higher education at UnidosUS.

Arizona schools are expanding 'wraparound' support

One emerging solution discussed repeatedly during the event was the expansion of wraparound support systems — programs designed to address academic, emotional and financial barriers simultaneously.

That includes mentoring, tutoring centers, emergency financial assistance, peer support groups, cultural resource centers and proactive advising.

“We have an 80% graduation rate,” said Nicole Marchi, program manager at Education Forward Arizona, of one scholarship support initiative. “I do think it’s part of the mentoring aspect, getting them to the end, having that same person to work with them for all four years.”

Research increasingly supports that approach. National studies from organizations including the Washington-based National Association of Student Personnel Adminstrators and the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice in Philadelphia have found students experiencing food insecurity, housing instability or social isolation are significantly less likely to complete degrees unless institutions intervene early.

During the discussion, UnidosUS shared preliminary findings from a national student survey showing that 85% of Latino college students reported struggles accessing consistent affordable food.

“Mental health and emotional stress” emerged as one of the top reasons students considered leaving college.

Mentorship and belonging may matter as much as academics

Many students said mentorship programs and campus belonging were among the biggest factors affecting whether students stayed enrolled.

“I really had a hard time finding my place,” said Nerissa Felix, a student who described transferring schools before finding stronger support systems through a Native student mentorship program. “If you don’t find these mentorships, it’s really hard to keep going through the education system.”

Others described feeling academically behind despite strong high school records.

“I was the top of my class,” Felix said. “And I got to college, and I’m like, wow, I feel like I don’t understand this work.”

That concern surfaced repeatedly among rural and first-generation students who said they discovered major academic preparation gaps only after arriving at college.

Hamren, a student from the Navajo Nation, described teaching herself algebra, geometry and reading comprehension after transferring schools and realizing she was academically behind peers in more resourced districts.

“I had to teach myself how to read,” she said.

Education leaders at the event said Arizona must increasingly focus not only on college access but on better aligning K-12 preparation, career literacy and postsecondary readiness.

“We need to make high school more rigorous and relevant,” said Dr. Chad Gestson, founder of the Arizona Institute for Education and the Economy.

A shift from access to completion

Roundtable speakers emphasized that first-generation student success can no longer be treated solely as an admissions issue.

Instead, many described it as an interconnected workforce, economic and community development issue for Arizona.

“Latino students have done the work of believing in higher education,” Sanchez said. “Now it’s time for higher education and policymakers to do the work to believe in them.”

The discussion also reflected a broader philosophical shift increasingly happening in higher education policy conversations nationwide: moving from measuring who gets into college toward measuring who is ultimately supported enough to graduate.

Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Stacy Mantle
Education Solutions Reporter

smantle@iniusa.org

Meet Stacy
Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.

Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.

Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!

Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.

Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.