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PelicanState87
| Favorite team: | |
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| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
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| Number of Posts: | 344 |
| Registered on: | 5/4/2024 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
Recent Posts
Message
re: Southern University takes on low graduation rates: ‘Biggest thing we’ve got to tackle
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/21/26 at 3:01 pm to Scruffy
quote:
sn’t SU sub-10%?
It is essentially impossible to not improve.
It will never be over 50% which is what's needed to change its academic reputation for the better. SU is the dumping ground for the worse of the worse students. SU used to be a top choice for the best in-state black students, but that has changed ... now it's 1) LSU 2) UL 3) Southeastern ... SU is like last place.
2
Southern University takes on low graduation rates: ‘Biggest thing we’ve got to tackle
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/21/26 at 2:56 pm
This won't change. SU graduates rates have been in the pits of hell forever. It's not gonna change. The only way to increase college graduation rates is to increase standards and increasing standards will significantly lower enrollment so it won't happen. And now SU has to compete with LSU for black students. However, LSU is now seen as the more trendy cool "black school". In recent years I've even seen some LSU black students call it a "HBCU". Also it has a much better campus and reputation and LSU black students can just drive to north BR for that real HBCU experience. SU is screwed. There are some very successful graduates that come out of SU but SU will never be taken seriously with its low graduation rate and academic reputation. Even most black students think SU is ghetto and beneath them which is why they are going to LSU making it ghetto and lowering its reputation ... vicious hysterical cycle ain't it
LINK
------------------
Discussions about Southern University’s graduation rates often carry an implied criticism: Students are not finishing because they are not trying hard enough. That assumption is simple, convenient — and wrong.
Southern’s challenge is not motivation. It is time. More specifically, it is the mismatch between traditional college timelines designed for financially supported, full-time students and the realities of students who must work to support themselves and their families.
Only 11% of Southern students in the 2016 cohort earned a bachelor’s degree within four years, according to data reported to the National Center for Education Statistics. The figure alarms policymakers, frustrates administrators and troubles alumni who understand the institution’s impact. But it should not surprise those familiar with the students Southern serves.
Southern is an access institution. It enrolls first-generation college students, low-income students and Pell Grant recipients. Many come from families unable to cover tuition, housing, books, food, transportation and unexpected expenses. For these students, employment is not optional or supplemental. Many are primary contributors to household income, paying rent, utilities and other family expenses.
The four-year graduation model assumes that college is a student’s primary responsibility. For many Southern students, that assumption does not hold.
Working 20, 30 or even 40 hours a week fundamentally reshapes the college experience. Students often reduce course loads to accommodate work schedules. Required classes may fill before they can register. Advising appointments conflict with shifts. Internships are frequently unpaid, making them inaccessible. Summer classes are often replaced with full-time employment. Missing a single prerequisite can delay graduation by a year.
Viewed over time, a six-year path to a degree appears less like failure and more like inevitability.
One factor often missing from graduation-rate discussions is the cost of time. Graduating “on time” is most attainable for students who can afford to treat college as their sole job. Southern students are navigating higher education while managing economic survival, and the standard metrics penalize them for doing both.
University leaders acknowledge the complexity. Chancellor John Pierre has said the issue is multifaceted, noting Southern’s commitment to enrolling students with financial need, limited family experience with higher education and responsibilities that do not pause during exams or semesters. That mission complicates graduation metrics but defines the institution.
Comparisons with peer institutions often lack context. Graduation rates are frequently presented as isolated numbers. Comparisons with Grambling State University, Dillard University or LSU do not reflect how many Southern students send money home, work instead of withdrawing, or stop out temporarily to regain financial stability. The data capture timelines, not persistence.
Southern’s recent $2 million grant to modernize its data infrastructure is a step forward. Early alerts, proactive advising and targeted academic interventions are important, as is the hiring of additional advisers and the rebuilding of in-person academic engagement disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But data systems alone cannot resolve economic constraints.
If Louisiana expects Southern to improve graduation outcomes, it must reduce the financial pressures that extend students’ timelines. That includes addressing the long-standing funding gap between Southern and LSU, expanding need-based financial aid, increasing paid internship opportunities, providing emergency grants and investing in affordable housing and food security. Retention is not only an academic issue. It is also a labor issue.
The definition of success also deserves reconsideration.
A student who graduates in six years while working, supporting family members, avoiding excessive debt and remaining enrolled demonstrates persistence and resilience. That outcome should not be framed as institutional failure. Southern’s role has long been to create upward mobility under challenging conditions.
The four-year graduation rate should be a goal, not a moral judgment.
Southern’s challenge is balancing accountability with honesty. Improving systems and outcomes matters. But progress requires acknowledging reality. Southern’s students are not disengaged. They are stretched.
Until higher education confronts the financial realities facing working students, graduation rates will continue to tell only part of the story. Southern, operating with limited resources, will continue educating students who take longer paths — not because they wander, but because the journey is harder.
Access and opportunity lose meaning if institutions pretend the distance is the same for everyone.
Cutline: Graduation rates at Louisiana HBCUs
Graduation rates for full-time, first-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students in the 2016 cohort at Louisiana’s four-year historically Black colleges and universities, shown at the four-, six- and eight-year marks. Southern University and A&M College trails most in four-year completion but shows gains over longer timelines, reflecting the extended paths many working students take to earn degrees. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS).
LINK
------------------
Discussions about Southern University’s graduation rates often carry an implied criticism: Students are not finishing because they are not trying hard enough. That assumption is simple, convenient — and wrong.
Southern’s challenge is not motivation. It is time. More specifically, it is the mismatch between traditional college timelines designed for financially supported, full-time students and the realities of students who must work to support themselves and their families.
Only 11% of Southern students in the 2016 cohort earned a bachelor’s degree within four years, according to data reported to the National Center for Education Statistics. The figure alarms policymakers, frustrates administrators and troubles alumni who understand the institution’s impact. But it should not surprise those familiar with the students Southern serves.
Southern is an access institution. It enrolls first-generation college students, low-income students and Pell Grant recipients. Many come from families unable to cover tuition, housing, books, food, transportation and unexpected expenses. For these students, employment is not optional or supplemental. Many are primary contributors to household income, paying rent, utilities and other family expenses.
The four-year graduation model assumes that college is a student’s primary responsibility. For many Southern students, that assumption does not hold.
Working 20, 30 or even 40 hours a week fundamentally reshapes the college experience. Students often reduce course loads to accommodate work schedules. Required classes may fill before they can register. Advising appointments conflict with shifts. Internships are frequently unpaid, making them inaccessible. Summer classes are often replaced with full-time employment. Missing a single prerequisite can delay graduation by a year.
Viewed over time, a six-year path to a degree appears less like failure and more like inevitability.
One factor often missing from graduation-rate discussions is the cost of time. Graduating “on time” is most attainable for students who can afford to treat college as their sole job. Southern students are navigating higher education while managing economic survival, and the standard metrics penalize them for doing both.
University leaders acknowledge the complexity. Chancellor John Pierre has said the issue is multifaceted, noting Southern’s commitment to enrolling students with financial need, limited family experience with higher education and responsibilities that do not pause during exams or semesters. That mission complicates graduation metrics but defines the institution.
Comparisons with peer institutions often lack context. Graduation rates are frequently presented as isolated numbers. Comparisons with Grambling State University, Dillard University or LSU do not reflect how many Southern students send money home, work instead of withdrawing, or stop out temporarily to regain financial stability. The data capture timelines, not persistence.
Southern’s recent $2 million grant to modernize its data infrastructure is a step forward. Early alerts, proactive advising and targeted academic interventions are important, as is the hiring of additional advisers and the rebuilding of in-person academic engagement disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But data systems alone cannot resolve economic constraints.
If Louisiana expects Southern to improve graduation outcomes, it must reduce the financial pressures that extend students’ timelines. That includes addressing the long-standing funding gap between Southern and LSU, expanding need-based financial aid, increasing paid internship opportunities, providing emergency grants and investing in affordable housing and food security. Retention is not only an academic issue. It is also a labor issue.
The definition of success also deserves reconsideration.
A student who graduates in six years while working, supporting family members, avoiding excessive debt and remaining enrolled demonstrates persistence and resilience. That outcome should not be framed as institutional failure. Southern’s role has long been to create upward mobility under challenging conditions.
The four-year graduation rate should be a goal, not a moral judgment.
Southern’s challenge is balancing accountability with honesty. Improving systems and outcomes matters. But progress requires acknowledging reality. Southern’s students are not disengaged. They are stretched.
Until higher education confronts the financial realities facing working students, graduation rates will continue to tell only part of the story. Southern, operating with limited resources, will continue educating students who take longer paths — not because they wander, but because the journey is harder.
Access and opportunity lose meaning if institutions pretend the distance is the same for everyone.
Cutline: Graduation rates at Louisiana HBCUs
Graduation rates for full-time, first-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students in the 2016 cohort at Louisiana’s four-year historically Black colleges and universities, shown at the four-, six- and eight-year marks. Southern University and A&M College trails most in four-year completion but shows gains over longer timelines, reflecting the extended paths many working students take to earn degrees. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS).
re: Record number of LSU applicants, most from out of state
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/17/26 at 8:54 pm to Macintosh
quote:
What’s the racial demographic of applicants
A lot of mediocre black kids from out-of-state who couldn't get into their flagship public schools. The remedial classes at LSU will be filled to capacity mostly made up of them
re: Debating on the trajectory of Arlington, TX
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/15/26 at 4:32 pm to nerd guy
quote:
Good news is grapevine and southlake are mostly tapped out for population growth. Not sure about colleyville.
Grapevine is turning into a Hispanic enclave. I hope it still keeps its appeal
re: Debating on the trajectory of Arlington, TX
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/14/26 at 7:36 pm to TheHarahanian
quote:
This is how Baton Rouge ruined the Shenandoah area. Allowed apartments in an area where they never should have, based on infrastructure requirements, and had the apartments shoehorned in so they backed up to a nice subdivision.
That was the beginning of the end. There are homeless camps in that area now.
Shenandoah is one of the few areas of BR I'm the least familiar with but I agree. I think Shenandoah went down hill first when busing brought more trash from the worst parts of BR to there. A lot of those households couldn't afford private school so they moved to Ascension or Livingston
Woodlawn and Tara used to be decent schools, now I wouldn't send my dog there
re: Debating on the trajectory of Arlington, TX
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/14/26 at 3:30 pm to Hetfield
quote:
I could detail for you what happened & what is going on but posters like SFP & 4Cubbies would try to get me banned.
I know what's going on. All the good folks are moving further out. Mansfield is next. In 10 years Mansfield and Arlington gonna be much more like a mix of South Dallas and Irving
re: Debating on the trajectory of Arlington, TX
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/14/26 at 3:24 pm to LSUtoBOOT
quote:
Locusts will always find the healthy crops.
Not always. Arlington was cheap to live for a long time and still is among the cheapest today. Keep things expensive, keep the locusts out. Arlington had way too many cheap apartments in the area ... that'll do it every time. Most of the locust came from those cheap apartments
re: Debating on the trajectory of Arlington, TX
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/14/26 at 3:19 pm to Cosmo
quote:
I thought Arlington was basically little Guadalajara
That's what I mean by it's turning into Irving lol. Irving used to be a highly desirable suburb. Now that desire part of the suburb is a small portion of the city and undesired parts are the majority.
re: Debating on the trajectory of Arlington, TX
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/14/26 at 3:14 pm to CajunInVirginia
quote:
Like many metro areas, people who can move out. I lived in North Arlington 2003-2004. Would never move back. My in-laws have left the area as well.
Once the Wholefoods close, North Arlington will officially be done. I'm surprised it's still open
Debating on the trajectory of Arlington, TX
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/14/26 at 2:48 pm
I was having a debate with someone about the trajectory of Arlington, TX. I thought the Cowboy Stadium and Texas Live! would really catapult the city forward but that hasn't been the case. The quality of AISD was BETTER before those two major things than afterwards. For example, Lamar High School which used to be top tier highly desirable upper middle class high school is now a complete shite show. The median home prices have had very slow growth compared to the suburbs up north. Parks Mall is not what it used to be and gotten more dangerous in the last decade. Outside of the entertainment district, I haven't seen much improvement and growth in the right direction for Arlington.
I personally think Arlington will be the next Irving if you know what I mean. The person I was debating with (Arlington resident) think it's still on the up and up.
What do you think?
I personally think Arlington will be the next Irving if you know what I mean. The person I was debating with (Arlington resident) think it's still on the up and up.
What do you think?
re: Relocating to the Baton Rouge area… what city around BR? (Updated with source on page 5)
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/11/26 at 8:19 pm to Rabbs and QStick
quote:
You can keep telling yourself that, but you are wrong. All I need to do is watch the videos from Zachary graduation last year to see exactly what you're sending your kids to school with over there.
We get it you likely bought house there recently and trying convince yourself it was good decision, it wasn't. Everyone I know is pulling there kids out of Zachary schools fast. My wife was counselor there about 10 years ago and that place was already on the down swing.
They only have high academic numbers because the only thing they teach is how to test. These kids aren't prepared for next step as well as they would be at other schools. I know this for 100% fact.
Buying in Zachary will be an investment most people with sense will regret ... give it 5 more years and the decline will be solidified. Central will be the only good city left in EBR and that's because Central has a reputation of being racist (it's not) ... it's just a conservative no non-sense type of town. Zachary used to be seen as a racist town and that's when it was at its best but now it's seen as a popular black suburb hence the fast decline. I also think the success of the athletic programs have attracted a lot more lower income black families ... athletic success Central hasn't really seen.
Zachary home-buyers are very offended when you tell them the truth b/c some of them can't afford to leave. They're gonna have to stay and watch the rot in real time LOL. A wise person knows to never buy where the black democrat population is fast increasing and I'm black. Never ... I don't care if they seem to be middle class ... it will surely decline. Sad truth supported by evidence ... it is what it is ... save yourself and BUY wisely next time
re: Relocating to the Baton Rouge area… what city around BR? (Updated with source on page 5)
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/11/26 at 8:11 pm to Areddishfish
quote:
I don't know how their school scores are so high. Years down the line you find out they were faking scores to secure funds.
Zachary is not a good school. Only a minority of students (mostly white) are doing well there. Don't be fooled by the inflated scores. Louisiana's Board of Education has lower standards b/c the public schools in the state are that bad so that's how Zachary keep getting As. They are the best among the shitty public state schools
re: Saks Fifth Avenue at New Orleans’ Canal Place since the 1980s, to close for good
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/10/26 at 7:01 pm to MrLSU
Not surprising. NOLA is not headed in a good direction. Maybe this new mayor can help save it a little bit but NOLA really need conservatives to take over.
Heauxs/strippers are saying they not making money anymore
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/8/26 at 12:19 pm
The recession is here lest there be any doubt. Once the heauxs/strippers start crying and being forced to get regular jobs there's definitely been a shift in the wrong direction. Prostitution is the oldest (possibly most profitable) profession in the world. I make six figures and live within my means better than most and I still don't have as much discretionary income to throw around anymore .... especially at a strip club. It's so bad I basically do all the yard and house work on my own ... I used to can afford to hire help more often but even they gone up in price. Everything keeps going up including my property taxes. We know there is still a "need" from men but they just don't have the money like they used to. I think a lot of men (and lesbians) have moved to OF versus going out to clubs too which hurts the industry. I expect to see more clubs close in the next 5 years.
Only the top 1% of heauxs are making real money ... the rest are screwed right now ... plus the segg market is oversaturated so a correction is needed. Bartending, yoga/pilates instructors, and real estate here they come ... about to be an influx of new faces
LINK
LINK
Only the top 1% of heauxs are making real money ... the rest are screwed right now ... plus the segg market is oversaturated so a correction is needed. Bartending, yoga/pilates instructors, and real estate here they come ... about to be an influx of new faces
LINK
LINK
re: Am I the only one that religiously uses an air purifier?
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/4/26 at 7:38 pm to Rize
quote:
I run one at night in my bedroom on high. I like the noise it makes.
I love the white noise too. Also the soft ambient light
re: Am I the only one that religiously uses an air purifier?
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/4/26 at 6:44 pm to TheGeauxt9
quote:
Gotcha, was just curious to see, I may look into one maybe, I have a pet in the home and would like to improve my sleep quality if possible as well
To me no home is complete without a 4-legged best friend. You will notice an immediate difference
re: Am I the only one that religiously uses an air purifier?
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/4/26 at 6:40 pm to TheGeauxt9
quote:
Is that adjustment for daily/nightly use?
Nightly use. I don't use every night to save money on my energy bill but I do use it often. Also filter changing on the ones I got is expensive too so that adds up. I don't clean the filters, I replace them completely b/c I believe it's safer. Overall still a worth while investment but it is costly considering I have multiple
re: Am I the only one that religiously uses an air purifier?
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/4/26 at 6:37 pm to TheGeauxt9
$15-35
Am I the only one that religiously uses an air purifier?
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/4/26 at 6:34 pm
I got one a few years ago for allergy issues and to help eliminate pet odors and it has been one of my favorite home items. Not only that but I have noticed the better air quality has resulted in lower stress and better sleep. The only con with it is I have noticed my energy bill spike and the filter replacements add up but it's still worth it.
LINK
LINK
re: Delta Tau Delta hazing death at NAU
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/3/26 at 7:16 pm to Honkus
quote:
ITT.. a buncha loser GDIs who never got bids in 3...2..1...
LOL can you please breakdown what's wrong with being an individual or independent. I never understood the insult. Being codependent on a frat for a social life and identity after being a voluntary slave for months is much better and honorable? I'm really not understanding
re: Delta Tau Delta hazing death at NAU
Posted by PelicanState87 on 2/3/26 at 7:10 pm to UK34
quote:
No one is getting hazed at a rush event
That's not true. Some fraternities start hazing their PC before rush is announced. Rush for them is just a formality so they won't get in trouble with IFC. I've known fraternities to have confirmed their PC months in advance
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