BALTIMORE — Hundreds of Baltimore City high school students descended on Camden Yards today for a major new opportunity to learn more about their options after graduation.
The first-ever "Homerun for Higher Education" college fair was a partnership with city schools, the Orioles and fashion retailer DTLR, held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
More than 2,000 students were expected to tour the fair, meet and network with almost 100 colleges and community organizations. The goal was to expect sophomores and juniors to college and job opportunities, both locally and nationwide.
The college fair comes amidst a dramatic drop in enrollment nationwide. The number of 2020 high-school graduates who enrolled in college that fall dropped by 22 percent from the prior year. The instability created by the COVID pandemic, along with rising tuition expenses, are two of the major factors, report admission specialists. The cost of higher education is especially a deterrent for low-income students, said the CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities.
DTLR noted in a press release that the country is also grappling "with lifting resource-stratified communities that have been disproportionately and systemically impacted by the pandemic." They were promoting the event with the official hashtags #CitySchoolsChella #LevelUpAtTheYard and #BmoreDoMore .
