6 Groups Improving Access to a College Education
Higher education can open new doors and put students on the paths to great lives and careers. Unfortunately, getting into and paying for college isn't always easy, and young people from low-income and underserved families often get left behind. That's why organizations like the ones listed here work to give students the tools they need to succeed in academia and beyond. This video was made with Ezvid Wikimaker.
Organizations That Help Students Get A Higher Education
| Organization | Headquarters Location | Mission |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom Line | Boston, MA | Help first-generation students from low-income backgrounds get into college, graduate, and go far in life |
| National Center for Fair and Open Testing | Arlington, MA | Advance quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid, and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers, and schools |
| Campaign for College Opportunity | Los Angeles, CA | Work to ensure that all Californians have an equal opportunity to attend and succeed in college in order to build a vibrant workforce, economy, and democracy |
| Let's Get Ready | New York, NY | Provide high school students from historically under-served communities and first-generation-to-college students with free SAT preparation, admission counseling, and other support services needed to gain admission to and graduate from college |
| Institute for Higher Education Policy | Washington, DC | Improve college access and success in higher education for all students (with a special focus on underserved populations) by providing timely research to inform public policy decisions |
| New Jersey Seeds | Newark, NJ | Ensure that students have the knowledge, skills, access, and support to thrive at the nation's finest schools and colleges |
Benefits Of Higher Education
- Students gain new life experience
- Graduates earn more money over time
- Opens minds up to new perspectives
- Gives students a chance to network with their peers
- Provides more career opportunities
- Improves critical thinking skills
- Allows students to realize where their passions lie
- Earning a diploma comes with a sense of accomplishment
High School Graduation Rates By State
As of the 2016-17 school year, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics
| State | Graduation Rate | State | Graduation Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 89.3% | Montana | 85.8% |
| Alaska | 78.2% | Nebraska | 89.1% |
| Arizona | 78.0% | Nevada | 80.9% |
| Arkansas | 88.0% | New Hampshire | 88.9% |
| California | 82.7% | New Jersey | 90.5% |
| Colorado | 79.1% | New Mexico | 71.1% |
| Connecticut | 87.9% | New York | 81.8% |
| Delaware | 86.9% | North Carolina | 86.6% |
| Florida | 82.3% | North Dakota | 87.2% |
| Georgia | 80.6% | Ohio | 84.2% |
| Hawaii | 82.7% | Oklahoma | 82.6% |
| Idaho | 79.7% | Oregon | 76.7% |
| Illinois | 87.0% | Pennsylvania | 86.6% |
| Indiana | 83.8% | Rhode Island | 84.1% |
| Iowa | 91.0% | South Carolina | 83.6% |
| Kansas | 86.5% | South Dakota | 83.7% |
| Kentucky | 89.7% | Tennessee | 89.8% |
| Louisiana | 78.1% | Texas | 89.7% |
| Maine | 86.9% | Utah | 86.0% |
| Maryland | 87.7% | Vermont | 89.1% |
| Massachusetts | 88.3% | Virginia | 86.9% |
| Michigan | 80.2% | Washington | 79.4% |
| Minnesota | 82.7% | West Virginia | 89.4% |
| Mississippi | 83.0% | Wisconsin | 88.6% |
| Missouri | 88.3% | Wyoming | 86.2% |
The Four Types Of Learners
- Visual: Prefer to look at information and visualize concepts
- Auditory: Prefer to listen to information
- Reading/Writing: Prefer to absorb information through text
- Kinesthetic: Prefer to learn through hands-on experiments
The Boost Students Need To Overcome Obstacles
In Depth
A college education has never been more important for stability and long-term success. Unfortunately, the playing field is far from even for everyone who wishes to take advantage of the benefits of a higher education. The six groups in the list below, presented in no particular order, all do their part to improve access to college for young people across the country. Some work directly with students, while others push for policies that can make colleges and universities available to all.
At #1, we've got Bottom Line, dedicated to helping low-income and first-generation students get to and through college. The group is committed to building strong connections with applicants and enrollees, providing them with individual support, and ensuring they have the guidance they need to persist and earn a college degree. Serving communities in Boston, Chicago, New York, and Worcester, Bottom Line supports students beginning in high school through college graduation, using a proprietary curriculum to provide personalized one-on-one advice and mentoring.
The organization's Access Program connects high school seniors with college advisors to assist them in navigating the complex and intimidating college application process. The College Success Program is designed to provide guidance to students who enroll in commonly attended regional colleges. Here Bottom line focuses on the main causes for students leaving school: academic, financial, career, and personal challenges. Get involved through individual or corporate donations, or by volunteering with the group's Go Far program.
Here Bottom line focuses on the main causes for students leaving school: academic, financial, career, and personal challenges.
#2 is The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. This group works to end the misuses and flaws of standardized testing and to ensure that evaluation of students, teachers, and schools is fair, open, valid, and educationally beneficial. FairTest believes that standardized tests do not measure the ability to think deeply or creatively in any field, and that their use encourages a narrowed curriculum, outdated methods of instruction, and harmful practices such as grade retention and tracking.
In addressing K through 12 education, the organization fights against the use of standardized tests in everyday schooling, and particularly their use in high-stakes evaluations. Instead, they encourage accountable and authentic measures of learning, like performance assessments and portfolios. In their project targeting college admissions, the group advocates to to reduce the role of standardized tests as gatekeepers to higher education. Learn more by subscribing to the FairTest Examiner newsletter or reading through a fact sheet.
On the list at #3, The Campaign for College Opportunity is focused on ensuring that all Californians have an equal chance to attend higher education programs and succeed. It does this in order to build a vibrant workforce, economy, and democracy in California. Founded in 2002, in the midst of a statewide budget crisis, the campaign's project takes three forms: policy advocacy, partnerships, and public awareness.
Founded in 2002, in the midst of a statewide budget crisis, the campaign's project takes three forms: policy advocacy, partnerships, and public awareness.
In regard to policy, the institution advocates for budgets and legislation that expand educational opportunity. It also crafts original policy initiatives that, for example, serve to help undocumented youth complete their schooling, or which make it easier for community college students to transfer to universities. The campaign develops partnerships to draw connections between these groups' missions and its own. Through a publications series, the group works to build public awareness about its concerns. To contribute, donate to the campaign online.
Coming in at #4, Let's Get Ready provides high school students from historically under-served communities with free SAT preparation, admission counseling, and other forms of support needed to gain admission to and graduate from college. These services are performed by volunteer college students who also act as role models and mentors. The organization's peer-driven model is premised on the knowledge that students from low-income backgrounds are less than half as likely to attend college and only one-fifth as likely to graduate.
The Let's Get Ready program provides students with six years of support through the college admissions and enrollment process, and then along the road to graduation. The group's Access Coaches prep students for the SAT exam and provide an overview of how to apply to schools, while its Transition Coaches get enrollees ready for college life. For those enrolled in a higher education program, Success Coaches work virtually and on-campus to give information and encouragement. Help out by volunteering as a mentor.
For those enrolled in a higher education program, Success Coaches work virtually and on-campus to give information and encouragement.
#5, The Institute for Higher Education Policy, is a non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to promoting access to and success in higher education for all students. Based in Washington D.C., it develops policy- and practice-oriented research to guide lawmakers and education leaders. For more than twenty-five years, it has brought together a number of experts in a variety of higher education-related issues to investigate and lobby for the programs it champions.
The institute identifies four main priorities: elevating effective pathways for increased degree attainment, enhancing affordability and reshaping college finance systems, promoting and improving meaningful accountability and consumer awareness, and supporting communities and critical institutions serving 21st-century students. In pursuit of these goals, it produces a number of professional reports and papers each year geared toward policymaking and general audiences. See what the group has to offer by reading through the archive of these studies.
Closing things out at #6, New Jersey Seeds, founded in 1992, prepares motivated, high-achieving, low-income students for admission to private schools and colleges across the country. Its programs provide demanding courses of study designed to develop the intellectual and leadership potential of students and position them for long-term success. Charity Navigator has awarded the group four consecutive four-star ratings; its highest possible recommendation.
Its programs provide demanding courses of study designed to develop the intellectual and leadership potential of students and position them for long-term success.
The Young Scholars initiative reaches children in fifth and sixth grades and strives to nurture their love of learning. Eighth and ninth grade students are eligible for the Scholars program, which seeks to place them in an academically rigorous day or boarding school. The College Scholars project helps public high school enrollees land admission in competitive higher education institutions. To support Seeds, donate money or attend one of its special event fundraisers.
