ECSU Ranks in Top 12 HBCU Social Mobility Innovators in the Nation
Robert Kelly-Goss
Posted On February 19, 2019
Elizabeth City State University is ranked seventh in the top 12 listing of CollegeNET, Inc.’s Social Mobility Index.
CollegeNET, Inc., a provider of web-based on-demand technologies for higher education and the developer of the Social Mobility Index (SMI), named its 12 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Social Mobility Innovators for 2019, earlier this month.
The Social Mobility Index ranks nearly 1,400 four-year U.S. colleges and universities according to how successfully they enroll students from low-income backgrounds and graduate them into promising careers. According to CollegeNET, the goal of the SMI — now in its fifth year — is to help redirect the attribution of “prestige” in the higher education system toward colleges and universities that are advancing economic mobility.
The 12 HBCUs named Social Mobility Innovators for 2019 all rank among the top 10 percent of schools on the SMI.
“Most higher education rankings evaluate colleges and universities as if comparing brands for consumer purchase,” says Jim Wolfston, CEO of CollegeNET. “The SMI, on the other hand, helps policymakers, and students and their families, see which colleges and universities are doing the most to drive U.S. economic mobility.”
According to CollegeNET, the 12 HBCUs were selected as CollegeNET Social Mobility Innovators for 2019 because they each offer a 21st century learning experience that makes a real difference in the lives of low-income students, according to a CollegeNET statement.
“The 12 HBCUs that have been named as Social Mobility Innovators for 2019 are providing world-class educational opportunity to promising students regardless of their economic background,” says CollegeNETs Wolfston. “Their contribution and example are key at a time when economic mobility and the American Dream are rapidly deteriorating. Today, as tuitions at U.S. campuses continue to increase while economic inclusion declines, these 12 HBCUs provide a strong example for reversing these trends.”
