College Access

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College Access Success for Underserved
Students Trends, Issues Strategies
Ann Coles, Sr. Advisor for College Access,
TERI COHEAO Mid-Year Conference July 30, 2007
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College Access History

• Morrill Act - Land Grant Colleges (1860S)
• GI Bill (1940s)
• Higher Education Act, Economic Opportunity
  Act(1965)
• Pell Grant(1969)
• State Sponsored access programs (1970s)
• Federal aid shift from grants to loans (1990s)
• GEAR UP (1998)

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Persistent gaps between college aspirations
degree completion by income race

• Over 90 of 8th graders aspire to college
• YET, only 68 of every 100 9th graders graduate
  from high school and only 39 go to college
  immediately
• Low-income students students of color are more
  likely to delay or forgo college
• High-income students are five times more likely
  to earn Bachelors degrees than low-income
  students
• African-American Latino h.s. graduates are half
  as likely to earn Bachelors degrees as white
  students

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Challenges affecting college access

• Economic transformation requires highly educated
  workforce
• 90 fastest growing jobs require postsecondary ed
• US K-12 system has not kept pace with economic
  transformation
• 20th century high school model still in place
• Decline in high school graduation rates
• US edge in higher education slipping
• Declining income for 80 of US households
• Lower income families earn smaller share of
  degrees
• Competing demands for public resources

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College access success - what matters most

• Aspirations
• Expectations
• Academic preparation
• Planning
• Affordability/financial aid

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Aspirations

• Over 90 of 8th graders say they want to go to
  college
• Influenced by students career interests the
  education level they think they need
• Underserved students families lack
  understanding of steps involved in preparing
  planning
• - Good grades good behavior college
  admission
• - Little knowledge of college or financial aid
  application processes college admission
  requirements
• - Think they can wait until 11th or 12th grade to
  begin planning

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Expectations

• Judgments of teachers, counselors parents
  strongly influence students educational
  attainment
• Disparities between students aspirations
  parents teachers expectations
• - 55 parents 32 teachers think students are
  likely to go to college (MetLife 2000 survey)
• - ¼ high school graduates say they faced high
  expectations in high school (Achieve 2005)
• Biases social forces among peers affect
  likelihood of college (Bridgespan 2006)

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Academic Preparation

• Rigorous academic preparation most significant
  predictor of college success
• - Math beyond Algebra 2 most important
• - Lab science AP/IB courses
• Underserved students not well prepared
  academically for college-level courses
• - Begin high school with below average reading
  math skills (NAEP)
• - 28 low-income students take full college prep
  curriculum compared with 65 high income students
  (ACT 2006)
• - Attend schools with limited advanced math, lab
  science, foreign language AP offerings

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Planning

• Access to early comprehensive college
  financial aid information planning is important
  predictor of college-going
• Underserved students lack awareness of college
  options, admission financial aid application
  processes
• 92 middle school students who say they might not
  go to college believe they cant afford to
• Systems for delivering college planning
  assistance in low-income schools communities
  are inadequate
• - High student/counselor ratios
• - Counselors spend less than 20 of their time on
  college/career advising
• - 50 of low-income students don't apply for aid

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Affordability Financial Aid

• High income students who score in the bottom
  quartile on standardized tests go to college at
  the same rate as low-income students in the top
  quartile
• Unmet need among low-income families grew by 80
  from 1990 to 2004 at four-year college compared
  with 7 for higher income families
• Complexity of aid eligibility system makes it
  hard to communicate specific information early in
  process
• Complex application aid award notification
  processes overwhelming limited hands on
  assistance for students parents

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Recruitment Admission

• Recruitment process communication do not taking
  into account student needs, e.g. limited Internet
  access, family work responsibilities
• Focus on quantitative measures in admission
  process
• Students at greater risk of missing deadlines
  becaue of lack of informed support

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National College Preparation Planning
Initiatives

• High school transformation models
• AVID
• Gates Foundation Small Schools
• Project GRAD
• Early College High Schools
• Social marketing campaigns
• Know How 2 Go
• Go Alliance state campaigns
• Federal Student Aid Only a Dream
• Sallie Mae Paying for College Bus Tour
• NCHELP College Access Initiative

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College Preparation Planning Initiatives cont.

• Aligning high school graduation standards with
  college admissions requirements
• Achieve
• NGA Honors States
• State P-16 Councils
• Academic social support
• Council for Opportunity in Education (TRIO)
• National College Access Network
• National Council for Community Education
  Partnerships (GEAR UP, Enlace)

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National Affordability Financial Aid Initiatives

• Advisory Committee on Student Financial Aid
• Project on Student Debt TICAS (The Institute
  for College Access Success)
• Rethinking Financial Aid College Board
• Making Opportunities Affordable Lumina
  Foundation
• College Goal Sunday NASFAA, Lumina, 33 states

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National College Success Initiatives

• Community Colleges
• Achieving the Dream
• Bridges to Opportunity
• Student Support Partnership Integrating Resources
  Education
• Opening Doors
• Four-Year Colleges
• National Association of System Heads (NASH)
• Exelencia in Education
• Alliance for Equity in Higher Education

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College Access Research

• ACT
• Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis
  (CHEPA)
• Education Trust
• Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)
• National Center for Higher Education Management
  Systems (NCHEMS)
• National Center for Public Policy Higher
  Education
• Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in
  Higher Education
• State Higher Education Executive Officers

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Pathways to CollegeNetwork (PCN)

• Alliance of over 30 national organizations and
  funders directed by TERI
• Goal To improve college access and success
  outcomes for underserved students by connecting
  research with policy and practice and catalyzing
  action across the K-12 and higher education
  sectors
• Focus Areas Academic Preparation Support,
  Access and Information, Financial Aid, College
  Success

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PCN Partners Funders

• Membership Associations
• Higher Education - NASFAA, ACE, NACAC, NCHELP,
  AACC, AACU
• College Transitions - College Board, NACAC
• K-12 - NASSP, IEL
• College Access - COE, NCAN, NCCEP
• Advocacy - NAACP, National Urban League
• Policy and Research Focused Organizations
• National and Regional Foundations

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PCN Core Work

• Generate knowledge through research creation
  synthesis
• Support action by promoting research-based
  policies and practices
• Increase understanding of college access
  success issues through strategic communications

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What distinguishes PCN

• Spans the P-16 pipeline
• - Academic preparation support
• -College planning information planning
• -Financial aid
• -College success
• Emphasizes the importance of using research-based
  practices and policies
• Brings together leading organizations around a
  shared agenda leverages their expertise

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PCN Guiding Principles

• Expect that all underserved students are capable
  of being prepared to enroll and succeed in
  college.
• Provide a range of high-quality
  college-preparatory tools for underserved
  students and their families.
• Embrace social, cultural, and learning-style
  differences in developing learning environments
  and activities for underserved students.
• Involve leaders at all levels in establishing
  policies, programs, and practices that facilitate
  student transitions toward postsecondary
  attainment.
• Maintain sufficient financial and human resources
  to enable underserved students to prepare for,
  enroll, and succeed in college.
• Assess policy, program, practice, and
  institutional effectiveness regularly.

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PCN Online Resources

• Signature report A Shared Agenda A Leadership
  Challenge for Improving College Access Success
• Online Library
• Toolboxes College Readiness for All, College
  Access Marketing
• Databases National College Access Directory,
  State Policy Inventory Database Online (SPIDO)
• Publications
• Monthly Enewsletter
• www.pathwaystocollege.net

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A Shared Agenda

• Summary report documenting key research findings
  re improving college access success for
  underserved students
• Annotated bibliography of 650 studies from which
  findings are drawn
• Action Alerts for key stakeholder groups
• Profiles of 112 policies, practices, programs
  implementing research-based strategies

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PCN Online Library

• Comprehensive online Library of over 1,200
  publications/resources on college access and
  success (updated weekly)
• Powerful search engine can locate items by
• - Author
• - Title
• - Publication Year
• - One or more specific keywords

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PCN Online Library

• Topic Areas
• Access (includes College Access Programs and
  College Access Marketing)
• Alignment/P-16 Issues
• College Success/Higher Ed Issues
• Data and Demographics
• Paying for College
• Preparation for College/Pre-K-12 Issues
• Underserved Students/Special Populations
• Using Data/Evaluation

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PCN Publications

• Early Commitment Financial Aid Programs
  Promises, Practices, and Policies
• Questions That Matter Connecting Research,
  Policy, and Practice to Improve College Access
  and Success
• The Link between High School Reform and College
  Access and Success for Low-Income and Minority
  Youth
• And more..

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PCN Enewsletter
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PCN Current Initiatives

• Communication Advocacy Campaign
• Media outreach
• Action issues
• State Data Sites and Indicator Reports
• Online library expansion
• Research projects
• Evaluation toolbox for college access programs
• Youth, family community involvement in
  improving college access
• Learning in higher education are underserved
  students catching up or falling behind
• College Access Marketing website expansion

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TERIs Role in PCN

• Dedicated staff provides direction with input
  from PCN Steering Committee
• Manages and implements PCN programs
• Funds PCN infrastructure and core employee costs
• Raises money for project expenses

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For more information.

• Visit the PCN website on-line library
• Sign up for the PCN Enewsletter
• Contact Ann Coles (coles_at_teri.org)
• www.pathwaystocollege.net