FALL 2016
EVERY DAY YOU MAKE
BRIGHTER FUTURES POSSIBLE.
Thanks to your hard work, Great Lakes is a well-respected student loan servicer, guarantor and philanthropist. Your commitment to helping people borrow responsibly to complete their education and find repayment solutions that work for them has helped us make college a reality for a lot of people. And with a degree in hand, graduates are on the road to a better life. Unfortunately, big gaps still exist between who goes to college and who graduates from college. Your good work is helping close these gaps by allowing Great Lakes to fund projects that get more low-income students, students of color and first-generation students to and through college. There are many reasons to be proud to work here. You make a difference, and Good Works is proof of that.
In this issue of Good Works, you’ll see results from three grants we’ve made to help at-risk students achieve the American Dream. We’ve made these grants because we’re focused on helping more students of color, first-generation students, and students from low-income backgrounds succeed in college and close the equity gap. Thanks to you, we’re able to fund proven, impactful programs that
measurably help people who otherwise may not have a chance at a college degree. And this Good Works is proof of your impact. Please take a few minutes to flip through this issue of Good Works and appreciate how much you’re helping change lives for the better every day.
By the time they’re 24,
9%
of low-income students VS.
77%
of high-income students will graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
Source: Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 45 Year Trend Report (Rep.). (2015, April 28). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from The Pell Institute website: http://www.pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_45_Year_Trend_Report.pdf
How To Double Graduation Rates In Community Colleges National graduation rates for low-income community college students who need developmental education are astonishingly low— fewer than 15% graduate within three years.1 To increase community college graduation rates, Great Lakes is funding an innovative program called ASAP (Accelerated Study in Associate Programs) at three Ohio community colleges. ASAP helps more students graduate, and graduate faster, with a common sense approach that blends academic, personal and financial support. In the ASAP pilot at the City University of New York (CUNY), three-year graduation rates nearly
doubled, making it the most impactful program in the past ten years.2 But would the astonishing success of CUNY’s program translate elsewhere? In 2014, we made a five-year, $5 million grant to see if the magic could be recreated at three colleges in Ohio, where schools are in a more rural setting and community college students are generally older than those in New York City.
1
AACC, 2016 [analysis of IPEDS Fall 2014 Enrollment Survey data]
2
Snyder, Thomas D., and Sally A. Dillow. 2013. Digest of Education Statistics 2012. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education.
ASAP REPLICATION DEMONSTRATION
2X INCREASE IN GRADUATION FOR STUDENTS
IN ASAP
ASAP requires students to…
ASAP provides students with…
• Enroll full time in fall and spring
• Tuition waivers to cover gaps between financial aid and tuition and fees
• Meet with campus Career Services staff once per semester • Visit adviser twice per month in first semester and as directed after • Take a student success course in the first semester
• Reserved seats in courses and early registration • Enhanced advising with more individual attention • Vouchers to cover the cost of books • Monthly $50 gas/grocery gift cards
Trying to duplicate the impressive achievements of the pilot program, ASAP in Ohio kicked off last fall with 1,500 students. Preliminary results from Ohio were recently released, and early findings show they are on par with the CUNY program.
THE RESULTS: ON PATH TO SUCCESS After the first two semesters, students in the Ohio ASAP are outperforming those not in the program in these key areas: • Enrolling full time • Re-enrolling in consecutive semesters • Attempting and earning more credits These results indicate that the Ohio ASAP is closing the achievement gap for students.
ASAP REPLICATION DEMONSTRATION
Creating Success From High School To College High school students in the academic middle of their class, mostly getting Bs and Cs, can often struggle in college courses. Low-income students and students of color in the middle can find it especially hard to get to college, ready to succeed. To address these challenges, the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County
was able to combine their existing AVID program with a new program Great Lakes funds called TOPS. Together, this powerful combination is helping close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their more privileged peers in and out of the classroom in Madison, Wisconsin.
SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) is a four-year elective class with rigorous standards and strong academic support. Used in over 3,000 schools nationwide, the curriculum focuses on writing, inquiry, organization and reading skills.
SUCCESS OUT OF THE CLASSROOM TOPS (Teens of Promise) helps over 1,300 Madison-area students outside the classroom. The program emphasizes college preparatory activities and real-world experiences. Coordinators at each TOPS high school provide expanded tutoring and advising, plan college field trips, bring in community speakers, match students with mentors and much more.
8
%
OF AVID/TOPS STUDENTS GO TO COLLEGE!
THE RESULTS: ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN MADISON IS CLOSING! An independent evaluation by researchers at the Wisconsin HOPE Lab showed terrific results for AVID/TOPS students in the 2014-2015 school year!
College Going Rates AVID/TOPS students
Students not in the program
All students
73%
62%
Low-income students
69%
57%
Students of color
68%
57%
Male students of color
67%
44%
TEENS OF PROMISE GRANT
MORE THAN
Helping At-Risk High School Students Get To And Through College Back in 2000, College Possible opened its doors in Saint Paul, Minnesota with a novel idea: when you connect low-income students with a college-age mentor, more students go to college. Mentors work with students all the way from college prep in high school through college graduation, providing deeply involved 1-on-1 support that promotes study skills, ACT test preparation, class registration, FAFSA completion and financial literacy. The organization started in two high schools, but has since served over 65,000 students nationwide. At every step, College Possible has been proven to work— independently verified by two Harvard studies—which is why we’ve funded the Milwaukee and Minneapolis-St. Paul programs for years. In 2015, we awarded College Possible a three-year, $2.2 million grant to specifically
serve 1,300 low-income students in Minnesota and Milwaukee high schools.
THE RESULTS: SUCCESS AT EVERY STEP With College Possible, students:
• Increase ACT scores 20% to better prepare for college • Gain 98% admittance to college • Are 10x more likely to graduate from a four-year college than their low-income peers College Possible makes a difference that adds up, and we’re proud to support them in their mission to help at-risk students succeed.
COLLEGE POSSIBLE GRANT
COLLEGE POSSIBLE STUDENTS ARE
MORE LIKELY TO
GRADUATE
GOOD WORKS FALL 2016
YOU’RE HELPING TRANSFORM YOUNG LIVES, SO KEEP UP THE
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