Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies recently signed an agreement with Prince George’s Community College which will allow qualified Prince George’s graduates to enroll in Georgetown’s Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies Program. In the agreement, Georgetown gives special consideration to nominated students from Prince George’s and gives them advising help adjusting to college life.
Georgetown’s administrators often talk about fulfilling Jesuit ideals of service and social justice by reaching out to the local community, and the SCS should be commended for making those ideals reality.
The community college already has similar agreements with 21 other area colleges and universities, including Howard University, Catholic University and the University of Maryland. But not only did the SCS take the initiative to set up the agreement by approaching Prince George’s, according to SCS Assistant Dean Vincent Kiernan, it also decided to offer financial support. Although the SCS does not traditionally provide any financial aid, one Prince George’s graduate will now be awarded the annual John Lafarge Scholarship, which covers 50 percent of tuition costs and comes directly out of the SCS budget.
This scholarship is critical for prospective SCS students, as most are working adults who cannot afford to go to night and weekend classes if their educational costs conflict with other living or familial expenses. Additionally, Georgetown’s program is unique among Prince George’s agreements with other colleges in offering financial aid, according to PGCC Senior Academic Administrator Verna Teasdale.
The SCS should be applauded for providing a financially realistic opportunity to local area graduates, but Georgetown should not limit the program to Continuing Studies. The University should set up an agreement with PGCC so that community college graduates can obtain traditional bachelor’s degrees from Georgetown College, as they are able to do at other area universities, including American and Johns Hopkins.
Many Prince George’s graduates are already qualified enough to attend Georgetown—some have in the past or do now. But the articulation agreement creates a perfect opportunity to encourage Prince George’s graduates to apply, and the financial aid offer makes it actually possible for them to attend. The College should follow the SCS’s lead and institute a similar program for local community college graduates.
