President Ensign Focuses on Expanding College Access at ATI Presidential Summit
Dickinson College President Margee Ensign poses with Michael Bloomberg and the presidents of the other American Talent Initiative member schools at the summit.
Two-day summit unites higher-ed leaders in effort to graduate more lower-income students
Dickinson College President Margee Ensign recently met with more than 90 higher-education leaders from around the nation at the Bloomberg Philanthropies American Talent Initiative (ATI) Presidential Summit in New York City to discuss ways to attract, enroll and graduate more high-achieving, lower-income students. With panel discussions on increasing institutional commitment to socioeconomic diversity and workshops on prioritizing need-based aid, the two-day summit united Ensign with presidents and chancellors of such institutions as Princeton University, Harvard University, Spelman College and Amherst College to explore strategies for expanding college access.
“Attracting passionate, curious and committed students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds is at the heart of Dickinson's mission to make a positive impact on the world with a useful education for the common good,” said Ensign. "We have made great strides in making this priceless education affordable, and we have been recognized as a leader in expanding access to students whose financial situations previously made a college education unaffordable. But we must do even more if we are truly to prepare this next generation of citizen leaders to shape a more just and equitable future—and we are committed to doing exactly that."
Dickinson joined the ATI last year, becoming part of an alliance of more than 80 of the nation’s most respected colleges and universities committed to the common goal of substantially expanding the number of talented low- and moderate-income students graduating from college. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, ATI members are working to enhance their own efforts to recruit, enroll and support lower-income students while learning from each other and contributing to research that will help other colleges and universities expand opportunity.
Launched in December 2016, the ATI was founded with a national goal of educating 50,000 additional lower-income students at the 270 colleges and universities with the highest graduation rates by 2025.
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Published February 26, 2018