Gifts That Impact
Gifts That Impact provides specific examples of how corporate and foundation support has assisted students, faculty, and staff at Penn State.
Gifts That Impact
Fall 2008
Lead Gift Creates Partnerships in Support of Pennsylvania College Advising Corps
Many educators consider the large gap in college access between wealthy and low-income students as one of the most pressing issues in higher education today. Millions of our nation's best students with financial need never go to college. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 4 million potential college degree recipients have been “lost” during the last two decades. Many of America’s top-performing, lower-income high school students are among those lost degree recipients. Studies indicate that a lack of information and advising creates a significant barrier for low- to moderate-income high school students. These students have the ability to excel in college and achieve the highest levels of success in their chosen fields, but they are less likely to have the social and financial resources to get there.
 A group of Philadelphia area high school students visiting the Philadelphia Museum of Art. |
In the fall of 2007, Penn State launched the Pennsylvania College Advising Corps-Penn State (PA CAC), a unique program initiated to increase college enrollment rates among underrepresented Pennsylvania high school seniors. The program is one of ten from around the country, each initiated with a $1 million grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The College Advising Corps is a nationwide initiative to help increase the number of college bound students from high schools that have traditionally low levels of students who advance to college after high school. Most of the students are diverse first generation college students and students facing financial barriers. The program helps the students navigate the often-difficult process of preparing college applications and finding financial aid for college. The lead grant from the Cooke Foundation has led Penn State to partner with several additional foundations to help expand the program.
PA CAC, in the tradition of the AmeriCorps and Teach for America programs, is based on the successful model created by the University of Virginia and funded by a lead grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The program recruits and trains recent college graduates to work full time as college advisors assisting guidance counselors in select Pennsylvania high schools for one or two years following graduation. The high schools targeted for the program are currently focused in the southeast region of Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia inner city high schools of Lankenau, Germantown, Olney West, and Edison, Reading High School, and two schools in Harrisburg, Steelton Highspire and Harrisburg High Schools. PA CAC advisors provide one-on-one assistance for high school students to not only complete college and financial aid applications but to write personal essays that capture the strengths of the individual student, and strategizing with individual students and families on the best financial aid opportunities for that student.
The college advisors receive intense preparation during a 3-week summer training program at the National College Advising Corps (NCAC) based at the University of North Carolina. This national program is led by Dr. Nicole Hurd, founding director of the College Guide Program at the University of Virginia. At NCAC, the advisors receive training on strategies, procedures, and expectations for working within the high schools, scholarship and financial aid preparation, understanding the process of enrolling in college, understanding first-generation college students, and expectations for professionalism.
The program director for the PA CAC-Penn State is Debra Simpson-Buchanan and her office is located at Penn State Berks campus in Reading, PA, which is situated centrally to the high schools that are participating in the program. PA CAC's goal for 2007-08 was to provide one-on-one personal service to 500 students; to have 212 seniors apply to a post-secondary institution that best fit their academic profile and to apply for financial aid; and that 190 of the 212 seniors accepted will actually attend in the fall. PA CAC has far exceeded its goal. To-date, Ms. Simpson-Buchanan reports that 255 students have been accepted to a postsecondary institution and 225 students plan to attend in the fall. The advisors have registered and provided one-on-one personal service to 638 students, and have helped to complete 808 postsecondary applications.
While the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation grant has provided four years of initial funding for the program, sustaining and growing the program beyond the four years is critical. The $1 million grant from the Foundation funded five college advisors for a four-year period. Another goal of the program is to increase the number of college advisors and high schools in central and eastern Pennsylvania by 2010-2011 as funding becomes available. Penn State has taken steps to expand the program beyond the funds available from the Cooke Foundation by forming partnerships with several other foundations. For example, the Franklin H. and Ruth L. Wells Foundation, located in Camp Hill, PA, approved a grant to add an additional college advisor in the Harrisburg High School, bringing the total number of college advisors to six. Another partner, the Foundation for Enhancing Communities located in Harrisburg, has also awarded a grant toward the Harrisburg advisor. The total cost for one advisor for one year is approximately $32,200, which includes salary, funds for room and board, funds for repayment of school loans or pre-payment toward graduate courses, and health insurance.
"The first year of the program has been highly successful and we are grateful for not only the generous Cooke Foundation grant but the foundation partnerships that have been established over the past year," states Ms. Simpson-Buchanan. "Students are excited when they realize that someone is there to specifically help them understand the process on how to apply to a postsecondary institution. Many want to go to college, but do not understand what it takes academically, socially, and financially. This program is making postsecondary education accessible to everyone."
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation (PHEF) has provided funding to the program with the potential of annually funding additional support. PHEF also provides free materials and workshops on locating financial aid for college and assists in training advisors on financial aid processes and programs. The Office of Educational Equity at Penn State is actively engaged in seeking individual donors for the program who are passionate about making college access available to talented students from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. An additional goal is to present this funding opportunity to corporations who believe in college access for all talented low- to moderate-income high school students who qualify for college, but for many reasons just never apply.
Penn State and its PA CAC foundation partners, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation, the Franklin H. and Ruth L. Wells Foundation, and the Foundation for Enhancing Communities, are striving to meet the same goal--making a college education accessible to all qualified high school students regardless of their financial situations.
Additional information on the PA CAC - Penn State Program can be found at the following Penn State Web site:
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