GREENSBORO, N.C. — Hattie Ray spends a lot of her nights on her laptop studying for school. Like most college seniors she is also preparing for life after college and graduation, “I’m very excited, it’s all I’ve thought about,” said Ray.
Her story however is a lot different than most, you see Ray is not your typical 22-year-old student, the college senior is 67-years-old, “I started school years ago and never completed it,” said Ray.
So, a few years ago she decided to go back to school and get her degree in criminal justice. Ray enrolled at Strayer University and started taking classes in hopes of graduating and landing a job early this year.
Everything was on track and Ray was set to graduate this past December, “We (my counselor and I) talked and she said I would get my degree in the mail,” said Ray.
The program was designed to take four years, but Ray finished her degree in just three and was set to start sending out resumes in January, “I got a call from the Dean the day after Christmas informing me I will not graduate,” said Ray.
The school caught a problem with her course work. Her counselor failed to sign Ray up for a required class, “I can’t believe this is happening,” said Ray. The school followed up with an email apologizing for the mix-up but confirming she must take the class to graduate.
The school providing two options for Ray, take the class and pass or take a test on the course work and pass it. Neither sounded appealing to Ray. Passing a test on material she had never seen would be next to impossible and spending another three months in school was not what she wanted.
The other concern was paying for the class, books and other fees associated with the class.
Ray reached out to News 2 in hopes we could help. We reached out to the University and talked with administrators. Strayer officials declined to talk on camera but did send us this statement:
“We regret that a Student Services Coach incorrectly advised Ms. Ray regarding the remaining course requirements in her program. We take this matter very seriously and we are committed to working with Ms. Ray to resolve her concerns. Further, we are taking appropriate action internally to address the Student Services Coach’s error.
We have offered Ms. Ray the following options to fulfill her final program requirement at no cost to her: She may successfully complete the course Challenge Exam; successfully complete an abbreviated one-on-one course session with an instructor and pass the final assessment, which would allow her to complete the session at her own pace and in less time than a regular quarter if she desired; or, she can successfully complete the course within the regular quarter schedule.
We have also offered Ms. Ray services to aid in her job search, including a no-cost one-year subscription to LinkedIn Premium, inclusion in an exclusive Career Advising program pilot allowing her to schedule one-on-one consultations with industry professionals in her chosen field, one-on-one resume guidance with a Career Liaison at the Greensboro campus, and a letter from our Registrar’s Office stating that Ms. Ray is currently enrolled in the last course she needs to complete her degree.”
The University also decided to waive her book fee, technology fee, degree conferral fee. The Strayer University Graduation Fund will cover the cost of tuition for the CIS 170 course.
The university is also paying for a 1-year LinkedIn Premium subscription at no cost and inclusion in the University’s Career Advising pilot program, in which Ray will be able to schedule consultation(s) with career professionals in various industries who can provide real world advice.
Strayer is also providing one-on-one resume guidance with the Career Liaison at the Greensboro campus.
Ray is now set to graduate in March and has already started looking for a job, “News 2 I think you’re wonderful and thank you so much,” said Ray.