How a Simple Shuttle Enables Campus Diversity

"The national conversation about helping more low-income students of color…go to college has produced a complex set of potential solutions. But on Staten Island, a simple blue shuttle bus seems to have opened doors that administrators had been struggling to unlock for years," according to an article by Meredith Kolodner.

The proof of the shuttle bus's success is found in the College of Staten Island's enrollment numbers: "Overall enrollment at the college, which is part of the City University of New York, has risen by only 15 percent since the shuttle began operating — but the numbers of black and Latino students have shot up by 49 and 43 percent respectively."

Kolodner is careful not to credit all of those numbers just to the shuttle, but the new access available to students in all of the city boroughs has been a key contributor, according to college leadership.

The model has inspired another colleges, including Queens College in New York and Asnuntuck Community College in Hartford, to launch similar transportation systems.