Sara Enright (MBA 2004) speaks with students at the Community College of Rhode Island. Courtesy Sara Enright

When former Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo came into office in 2015, she included in her plans to make the state more economically competitive an educational initiative called Rhode Island Promise. The state legislature approved it in 2017, making Rhode Island one of some 20 states that have adopted similar programs. Sara Enright (MBA 2004), vice president of student affairs and chief outcomes officer at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), immediately recognized the opportunity it presented. “We, as a college, felt like, ‘This gift has just been handed to our institution, our students, and our state, so let’s get after it.’”

Since the introduction of Rhode Island Promise, a tuition-free, taxpayer-funded program for recent high school graduates, more students are furthering their education. Enright is seeing double the number of full-time participants attend CCRI right after high school. Because of the program, many CCRI graduates go on to jobs across the state that help to fill the middle-skills gap.

In Rhode Island, nearly all new jobs require post-secondary education, yet only 51 percent of the state’s population has any post-secondary credential. Community colleges are essential in addressing this disparity. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, an educator at Northern Virginia Community College, calls them “one of America’s best-kept secrets,” and President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in his “Plan for Education Beyond High School,” encourages investments in community colleges and technical programs as pathways to opportunity that improve student achievement and grow a stronger, more prosperous, and more inclusive middle class.

In this Q&A, Enright discusses the success of the four-year pilot program, which has been extended for a year (recently introduced legislation has proposed making it permanent); how community colleges can address the middle-skills gap; and CCRI’s partnerships with business.

Who are the students you serve, and how has COVID-19 affected enrollment?
CCRI has nearly 20,000 students across four campuses, 4,000 of whom are enrolled this year under Rhode Island Promise. You are eligible for the program if you’ve just graduated from high school, enroll full-time at CCRI, stay enrolled, and hit certain academic benchmarks. The rest of our students are those who haven’t come to college immediately following high school or who are adult learners.

Because we are a large commuter institution with thousands of students coming to us from all over the state and because many students are working at the front lines of this pandemic—in nursing homes, hospitals, grocery stores, and restaurants—we decided that it wouldn’t be prudent to offer in-person classes. Our classes have been almost entirely virtual since mid-March 2020.

This pandemic has interrupted the pursuit of higher education for many of our students. Community colleges across the country have seen significant enrollment hits related to the pandemic, including a 7-percent decline here at CCRI. Community college students are more likely to come from low-income communities and communities of color, precisely the groups that have been disproportionately impacted by both the health and economic effects of COVID-19.

The largest group of Promise applicants at CCRI comes from families making less than $25,000 annually. Can you speak to how the program opens doors for students and provides a boost to local economies?
Higher education is the path to opportunity in this country. If you’re from a family earning less than $25,000 a year, this program represents a transformational opportunity to earn a college degree and secure a job with a family-sustaining wage. What is sometimes underestimated is that not only are community colleges obvious engines of economic mobility for the students they serve, they’re also engines of economic competitiveness in their regions.

Some of the best moments of my day are when I’m talking to students and hearing about their experiences, but what drives me to do this work is the idea that a better CCRI creates a better Rhode Island. You can’t go into a medical office in the state without meeting a CCRI graduate who’s your nurse, your ultrasound tech, or your dental hygienist. And there’s a demand for still more IT support analysts, cybersecurity professionals, and people who know how to do specialized manufacturing jobs. America needs people to have more chances to advance in this economy. That is the American dream we all hope to be true and want to see come to fruition for as many individuals as possible.”

By eliminating the $5,000 a year cost to earn a CCRI associate’s degree, do you find that your Promise students are still committed to their studies?
Yes, absolutely. What we’re trying to do is reduce the cost of getting an education so that students are able to focus on it. Nearly all of our students work in addition to going to school. The program is enabling them to be even more committed to their studies so that they only have to work 15 to 20 hours a week instead of 60 to 70 hours. It is not unusual for a CCRI student to go to a job at night, take care of their niece and nephew the next morning so that their sibling can work, then go to school in the afternoon and go back to work at night and do it all over again. Those are the routines of the majority of our students. If tuition and fees are covered, it still is not easy, but it is more manageable.

Is CCRI partnering with local businesses?
We collaborate with companies across industries and sectors. Our larger partnerships include work with General Dynamics Electric Boat to prepare people to build nuclear submarines for the US Navy and work with Bank of America on programs that prepare individuals for jobs in the financial services sector. We also have a partnership with CVS Health to train people for jobs in both technology and health care. These are just three examples out of dozens of active employer partnerships. The CCRI Foundation Board also includes a number of local business leaders who have helped to strengthen our relationships with the business community.

In terms of your own education, how did HBS prepare you for the work you do now?
HBS helped me to see and believe in what’s possible. It’s an institution that early in my career inspired me to think bigger by understanding what other leaders had been able to accomplish with a vision, a passion, a strong team, and a strong sense of purpose. It has encouraged me to go into things undaunted with a greater focus on opportunities rather than challenges. In terms of my own vision, I believe our country needs community colleges to deliver. Our students need us to create a path for them and to give them a space to achieve their potential.

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