美国国家公共电台 NPR Top Colleges Seeking Diversity From A New Source: Transfer Students

 

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At some of our nation's top universities, more and more students are coming from an unlikely place - community college. That's because many Ivy¹ League and other elite² schools are accepting more transfer students. This is unusual because for the longest time at elite schools, if you didn't get in as a freshman³, you didn't get in at all. NPR's Elissa Nadworny explains what's behind this change.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE⁴: Walk across the green at Amherst College, a top liberal arts school in Massachusetts, and you'll most likely see a campus full of 18 and 19-year-olds. But more and more, you meet people like this.

MARIA AYBAR: My name is Maria Aybar. I'm a transfer student. I transferred September 2017. I never really thought that I was going to go to an elite school, as they call them.

NADWORNY: Maria and her mother came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic when she was a teenager. Her English wasn't that great. And when it came time for college, she was a bit lost.

AYBAR: The SATs, why do I have to take them? How do you apply for colleges? (Laughter) Why are there are so many colleges in this country? Like, there were so many things that you just don't know.

NADWORNY: So like a lot of her peers, she enrolled⁶ at community college. There, she improved her writing. She took honors classes and worked towards an associate's degree. Three and a half years later, she transferred to Amherst. More and more elite private schools are trying to diversify⁷ their student bodies by recruiting students like Maria. Just this year, Princeton University enrolled its first group of transfer students in nearly three decades, and many are from community college. It's part of an attempt to make elite colleges look like the rest of America.

HEATHER DUROSKO: Diverse students are the fastest-growing demographics in the U.S.

NADWORNY: That's Heather Durosko from the National Association of College Admission Counseling.

DUROSKO: So it's really important for colleges recognizing that trend to realize that more and more of their students are going to be coming from that pathway.

NADWORNY: Indeed, more than half of Hispanic undergrads are enrolled at community colleges. The same is true for Native Americans, and about 40 percent of African-American students go to community college. And schools are recognizing that, hiring admissions officers dedicated⁸ exclusively to transfer and community college students. At Amherst, that person is Lexi Hurd.

LEXI HURD: There's a lot of high-achieving students who end up at two-year schools.

NADWORNY: Finances have a lot to do with it, but there are other factors.

HURD: They feel like, maybe I have a lot of pressure to stay near home. Or, no one in my family's gone to college before, so let me dip my toes in this for a little bit and then potentially sort of expand my wings.

NADWORNY: And expanding those wings, Lexi Hurd knows that that can be scary and confusing.

HURD: Their learning curve in that first semester is a steep one. And I think that that's a really important message for people to know (laughter).

NADWORNY: So it's not just recruiting from community colleges, she says. There has to be support when those students actually enroll⁵ because things like this happen. Right before Maria Aybar started at Amherst, her mom lost her job.

AYBAR: It was hard for me to be here and have food in my plate while I wasn't sure how my mom was doing.

NADWORNY: It was a hit on her confidence on top of the heavy course load and the constant doubts of, am I really good enough to be here?

AYBAR: Here, students, they talk a certain way. You know, they have these huge words that they constantly use in class. And they're able to make these amazing connections and things like that. And times you feel like, oh, my God, I can't do that. You know? Like - and it's not like you can't do it. It's just that you have not been yet prepared for that.

NADWORNY: After that first semester, things got better for Maria. There is a transfer students center on campus and lots of resources. When she thinks back to her time in high school and then community college, she can hardly believe that she's now a junior at Amherst.

AYBAR: When you have big dreams, and you don't have the resources for it, you feel trapped. And you feel that nothing is ever going to change. So being able to be here and to fulfill⁹ my dream of education means the world to me.

NADWORNY: She says she's starting to see that her professors and her classmates value that she brings a different perspective. And all those big, fancy words, they can't take that away. Elissa Nadworny, NPR News, Amherst, Mass.

1 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

2 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

3 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

6 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

8 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

9 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。