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This program focuses on fostering student success through innovative college-community partnerships. It targets high school students in grades 9-12 who aspire to attend college, particularly those who would be the first in their families to do so. We offer a comprehensive curriculum that includes literacy, quantitative reasoning, and early college awareness, complemented by supplemental instruction like tutoring and SAT prep. With the support of undergraduate mentors and clinical faculty, we aim to empower students with the necessary resources and skills for a successful transition to college.
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Building Bridges College-Community Partnerships to Foster Student Success
Background • PreCollege Enrichment Program • Urban School District-University Partnership • Population: Students in grades 9-12 with post-secondary aspirations who would be first in family to attend college • Curriculum: Literacy & quantitative reasoning experiential educational programming + early college awareness • Supplemental instruction: Tutoring, SAT prep, school year. Academic enrichment/employment, summer.
Background • PreCollege Enrichment Program, cont’d. • Staffing: Undergraduate mentors and MAT candidates • Training: Clinical faculty in education, counselors, teachers • College planning collaboration: Guidance counselors, admission counselors, financial aid counselors
Restructuring for Urban Student Success (RUSS) • Partnership of three urban public universities • Focus: identifying solutions to address structural issues that impede student success in the first year of college • Learning communities as a structure that supports close faculty/student interaction, curricular integration and a setting to deliver services to students in a coordinated fashion • Students as workers or workers as students – how students identify-transition to student i.d. as key to success in the FY • Today’s college going population non-traditional age “new majority” students
Background • Proliferation of initiatives that focus on student success/college awareness • National intermediary organizations, identifying talented students and providing early intro to FA • Longstanding college partnerships w/ federal support – e.g., Upward Bound • Locally funded (foundation/privately) - CBOs • Small school movement & charter high schools
Challenge • Emphasis on early college awareness tends not to include early conversations about how students pay for college. • Mentoring programs –focus on college admission requirements– standardized tests • Counselors – focus on price / helping students to meet deadlines and to complete FAFSA (January). • Small and larger schools – challenge to deliver information early enough to influence decisions
Consequences • Students with fewer educational resources are • getting into the process later • making application decisions without complete info • Completing process later (SAT2s, Profile) • Once admitted and aided, not sure what to ask, how to prepare or what to expect – need coaching! First semester circumstances cause them to feel off balance, unprepared, and out of place…
Addressing Aid Early On • Early awareness w/ students • Cost out pathways to and through college • Discussion of factors that can enhance aid • Outside scholarships and loan forgiveness programs • Explanation of direct and indirect costs (true cost of attendance) • Embed into curriculum for effective delivery • Community College to Four-year Public • Four-year Pubic • Four-year Private
Early Awareness w/ Parents • Terminology - demystify • College pathways - orientation • Partnership - shared responsibility / family decision • Items to address in a straight forward manner with examples • Borrowing for college/loan obligation concerns • Disclosing personal financial info (FAFSA) • Non-custodial parent information
Early Awareness w/ Counselors/Coordinators • Support delivery of ‘college financing’ curriculum for students • Share information about packaging policies at schools to ensure that students have “diversified” lists of colleges (avoid having one case generalized to whole) • Reinforce message not only about meeting deadlines but about preparing and sharing information to support completion of process, etc. • Organize case studies to familiarize counselors w/ areas where professionals exercise judgment and where families may need to share or ask for info.
Conclusions • Empower with information (pre/post) • Build trust (holistic approach) • Work to address wait and see tendency • Communicate (emphasis on clarity, presentation of options/choices, and areas where students can to take control)
Questions? • Heather Woodcock Ayres hayres@wellesley.edu