Killing two birds with one stone.
The idiom has come to define achieving two aims with one action.
By establishing pathways for students at two-year colleges to get four-year degrees, Lincoln University could be setting itself on a course for better enrollment and retention figures.
In other words, killing two birds with one stone.
Student enrollment and retention have been long-standing issues at Lincoln.
Fall 2022 marked the university's first overall enrollment increase since 2011 and the first increase in new students since 2017.
Retention contributes to that enrollment decline. Lincoln retained less than half of its fall 2021 cohort, according to campus census numbers.
Why do so many students drop out?
Many students who enroll at the open-enrollment university are ill-prepared for the rigors and independence of college, LU administrators say.
That's where LU's recent partnerships with community colleges come in to play. Community colleges excel at helping students build a foundation to be more successful at a four-year institution.
On Monday, Lincoln formalized its latest agreement with a community college. The agreement with College of Lake County in Illinois allows students an opportunity to enroll at Lincoln after they complete specific coursework and meet a minimum number of transferable credit hours. Lake County students who are admitted to Lincoln then qualify for LU's Connection Scholarship, which reduces tuition for the Illinois students to the rate Missouri students pay.
The arrangement also streamlines how Lake County students can enroll and take courses at Lincoln, even providing the potential for students to take courses at both institutions at the same time.
Lincoln is wisely growing the number of these transfer agreements and partnerships.
One local example is the partnership with State Technical College of Missouri. The agreement offers State Tech students studying business to continue their education at Lincoln with transferred credits, all the while potentially living on Lincoln's campus.
"With where enrollment is, we have seats in upper-division courses that fit suitably with transfers," LU President John Moseley said. "So students could come in directly into their major after having completed their general college requirements."
Lincoln is working on similar agreements with Metropolitan Community College, a public community college system with five campuses around Kansas City and State Fair Community College in Sedalia.
Through these partnerships, Lincoln is wisely trying to leverage the skills students are learning at community colleges to help them further their educational pursuits while addressing enrollment and retention issues that threaten the viability and success of the Capital City's historically Black university.
It could be a win-win for students and Lincoln University.
-- News Tribune