Richmond school system grads not going to VCU

In the 2007 school year Virginia Commonwealth University enrolled nearly 4,000 students, the school’s highest total in its 40 year history. However, only a fraction of those students came from public  high schools in the city of Richmond.

Just 51 graduates from Richmond city schools enrolled at VCU this past year.  VCU President Eugene Trani, told the Faculty Senate that he believes those numbers are too low.

VCU’s Vice Provost of Admissions, Delores Taylor, believes the city’s small high school population and graduation rates are both factors.

“Compared to some school systems, the numbers of students who are graduating from the high school within the public schools in Richmond are low,” said Taylor.

Not only are the graduation rates low, but Taylor has found an even simpler problem with Richmond and VCU, and that is proximity.

“Many students will decide, for example, that they’d like to go away to school. Many students will decide to go away from home and they may feel that VCU is a little to close to them,” Taylor said.

However, even due to the lack of interests from Richmond Public Schools, Taylor still believes that VCU plays an active role in recruiting these local students.

“We have college representatives, admissions representatives who are visiting the high schools, participating in college fairs, so we are going to the high schools,” said Taylor.

While officials at Virginia Commonwealth believe in the university’s recruiting efforts, public opinion tells us a different story.

Open High School is only minutes away from VCU’s Monroe Park Campus. Guidance counselor Jo Baird says many Open students apply to VCU and are accepted. But population always plays a part in admissions and Open’s senior class tallied only 50 students.

Open is a different Richmond Public School, where 15 students per class is the norm. Interested students must apply for acceptance and seniors participate in classes at J. Seargent Reynolds Community College and VCU.

“One of my, maybe two, I think only one this year is a visiting student at VCU. Um, most of my students…very many of them, the great majority will be taking classes at J Sarge by the time they’re seniors. They’ll be taking one or two dual enrollment classes” said Baird.

Baird found RPS’ low enrollment rate puzzling.

“It’s hard to argue with the scope or the quality of education you’re going to get”, Baird said. “It’s a riddle to me, I don’t know why. Outreach to the schools?”

Open High alumni Titus Jones and Cory Fountain are current VCU students who believe the issue also comes down to the university’s location and its presence within the Richmond Public School system.

“Not a lot of people talk about VCU”, Fountain said. “They talk about State, they talk about Union. It might be because VCU is just so close, they want to get away from home, they don’t want to be here.”

Jones believes that the problem lies in VCU’s outreach toward’s the city’s communities.

“Make yourself known”, Jones said. “We have a partnership with VCU…so that’s how we know about VCU. We come out to VCU and when we need things, VCU comes out and helps us. I’m pretty sure if that’s the same way with high schools, Richmond public schools, they’ll have more students enrolling here” said Jones.

So is VCU’s outreach to public high schools faltering, or do seniors feels they need to go away to college?

Tell us what you think Richmond.