Fair to assist adults with returning to college

Event is Tuesday in Springdale

Life sometimes interferes with plans to earn a college degree.

An annual Come Back to College Fair helped Brice Alexander resume his pursuit of a computer science degree at the University of Arkansas, Deborah Grindstaff begin taking classes at Northwest Arkansas Community College and Whitnee Lowe find encouragement to continue her education after a brief gap.

Come Back to College Fair

By Graduate NWA, a program of the Northwest Arkansas Council and six colleges and universities.

4:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Jones Center, 922 E. Emma St. in Springdale

Source: Staff report

This year's fair begins at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Jones Center in Springdale. The free event is designed for adults to find out what steps they need to take to become students again, said Stacey Sturner, the Graduate NWA program manager for the Northwest Arkansas Council.

Graduate NWA is a partnership involving the council and six higher education institutions. The Northwest Arkansas Council, a nonprofit organization of business and civic leaders that focuses on issues affecting the region, wants to encourage more adults to finish college, Sturner said.

While roughly 27.9 percent of adults in the metropolitan area of Northwest Arkansas have at least a bachelor's degree, an estimated 20.1 percent of adults have some college credit but no degree, according to surveys conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau from 2011 to 2014 for the American Community Survey.

"Our educational attainment numbers aren't what we want," Sturner said. "When a company is looking to expand or relocate, they look at those census numbers. They need to have assurance the work force is ready to go."

Alexander, 36, of Fayetteville intended to go to the University of Arkansas to pursue a degree in computer science and engineering after graduating from high school in 1997. He started his education at the university and found a job tending bar on Dickson Street.

He didn't get home most nights until after midnight and skipped classes, he said. He changed his class schedule from full time to part time, but eventually stopped going.

Alexander kept putting off returning until he learned about Graduate NWA about two years ago. He got in touch with Sturner, who helped him figure out how to pay for college and connected him with people from the university.

Alexander plans to graduate in May with a bachelor of science degree in computer science. A 4.0 grade-point average earned him a spot on the chancellor's list last semester.

"I never enjoyed school the way I enjoy it now," he said. "I actually look forward to walking on campus now, which I never did before."

Lowe, 20, wasn't sure how to return to college after becoming a mother. She graduated from Prairie Grove High School in 2013 and started her college education that fall at the University of Arkansas. She wants to be a basketball coach and a math teacher.

Lowe got pregnant in 2014 and took a year off of college to have her daughter, who was born in January. Her mother told her about a Come Back to College Fair, where Lowe won a scholarship.

She received applications for more scholarships and learned about financial aid, online classes and about child care for her daughter. She married her husband, Mason Lowe, in July and started back this semester taking classes two days a week at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.

"It changed my perspective on going back to school 100 percent," Lowe said. "I wasn't thinking I could do it until I talked to them."

Grindstaff, 38, of Huntsville finished an accounting program at Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale in 1997 after a divorce from her first husband. She became a single mother of two children.

She worked in banking after that, but after her second marriage ended in 2012, Grindstaff needed to work a second job to provide for her family.

One night in August 2014 after once again arriving home after 9 p.m., Grindstaff decided she wanted to go back to school. She found out about the annual fair the next day.

She now is a student at Northwest Arkansas Community College and hopes to work toward a career in advocacy for women at the Peace at Home Family Shelter in Fayetteville.

The percentage of adults with a bachelor's degree in Northwest Arkansas has risen since 2010 when the Census reported 25.1 percent of adults ages 25 and over in the metropolitan area had a bachelor's degree, said Rob Smith, spokesman for the council.

But a State of Northwest Arkansas Region Report due to be released Friday will show the population's levels of educational attainment is worse than similar peer regions in other parts of the country where 36 percent to 45 percent of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, Smith said.

The annual State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report will be shared at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors Event Center, 314 N. Goad Springs Road in Lowell.

"You have to be determined that you can do it and you're worth it," Grindstaff said. "A lot of people don't think they're worth it. They are. They're worth it. They're smart enough. They can do it. Don't give up."

NW News on 09/28/2015

Upcoming Events