Looking for a strategy to boost college attainment rates?
Brian Coleman, who will offer the keynote address at this year’s Guiding the Way to Inclusion conference, adheres to a simple formula: awareness followed by action.
Continue reading Facebook Live: Hear from NACAC’s GWI Keynote Speaker
Undocumented status can add an additional challenge into the already complex college application process.
“For undocumented students, there are so many barriers to pursuing higher education: an unstable political climate, a lack of clarity around university policies, the cost of attendance and less access to financial aid, and concerns about travel and safety, to name a few,” said Jessica Ch’ng, senior assistant director, multicultural recruitment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
To work toward breaking down these barriers, Ch’ng used a NACAC Imagine Fund grant.
Continue reading Imagine Grant Supports Programming for Undocumented Students
We’ll be broadcasting via Facebook Live on Tuesday, July 9 with Brian Coleman, this year’s Guiding the Way to Inclusion keynote speaker.
An eloquent and enthusiastic advocate for college counseling, Coleman is a school counselor and counseling department chair at Jones College Prep in Chicago, IL. He was named the 2019 School Counselor of the Year and was also this year’s recipient of the Upstander Award from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Continue reading Facebook Live: Meet Brian Coleman, GWI’s Keynote Speaker
New policy guidance issued last month by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that Form I-20 must be issued directly to a student, not a recruiter or agent.
The form—which serves as an individual’s Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status—is supplied to international students who have been accepted for enrollment at a US educational institution certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).
Continue reading Feds Release New Policy Guidance Regarding Form I-20
Financial aid offers play a big role in the college decision for admitted students.
But these offers are often confusing and award letters vary wildly, leaving students to make one of their first major life decisions without access to clear information.
“I think anyone who’s worked with students is just like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. What a mess,’ ” Rachel Fishman, a researcher with New America, told NPR. “It’s really the Wild West when it comes to how these letters look.”
Continue reading Study: Financial Aid Award Letters Need More Clarity, Transparency
Looking for summer reading suggestions for yourself or the students you serve?
NACAC member Brennan Barnard has released his annual compilation of book recommendations.
The full list — featuring titles suggested by college admission deans and counselors — appears on The Washington Post website. Some selections are related to education, while other titles are simply good reads.
Continue reading College Counselor Compiles Summer Reading List
As a high school college counselor, I should be enjoying a relaxing summer, but my work is far from over. My summer days are dedicated to making calls to every graduating senior to ensure deadlines are being met, deposits are being paid, and orientations are being attended. And that doesn’t end after the student starts college.
Today, graduates of KIPP high schools complete college at a rate of 45 percent, that is four times the national average of 11 percent for students from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. We accomplish this through detailed check-ins with our college students and maintaining a lower student-to-counselor ratio (roughly 100-to-1 versus 482-to-1 nationwide).
Imagine if every student had access to this level of intensive college counseling, then our college completion rates would improve. Today only one out of 10 students from low-income families earn a bachelor’s degree. The KIPP Foundation is urging Congress to prioritize college counseling nationwide and make it a priority in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. We recommend creating a federal grant program intended to increase the number of college counselors in public schools, adopt proven evidence-based counseling practices, and track results.
Continue reading Congress Needs to Put College Counseling First
Nasim Mohammadzadeh is ahead of the game when it comes to financing her college education.
The Kentucky teen’s entry in NACAC’s 2019 Video Essay Contest earned her a $1,000 scholarship — money that will soon come in handy as she works to pursue an undergraduate degree in neuroscience or biology.
“It really lifts a burden off of me as a whole because, you know, looking at that big number, that tuition cost, for any college…it’s overwhelming,” Mohammadzadeh, a rising senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, said Tuesday during a Facebook Live broadcast.“…Having this scholarship gives me motivation that even if I get into some place that’s extremely expensive and out of my price range, this little scholarship is going to help me be able to achieve that dream and go to that university.”
Continue reading Facebook Live: Hear from a NACAC Essay Contest Winner
Need help talking about college costs with the families you serve?
Newly translated materials from NACAC make it easy to connect with Spanish-speaking students and their parents/guardians.
Continue reading Now Available in Spanish: NACAC’s College Affordability Handouts
Getting to and through college is an amazing feat for first-generation students. But, the challenges this student population faces do not stop post-graduation.
From parental connections to internships to the ability to buy a suit for interviews, the road from first-generation student to first-generation professional is a bumpy one.
Continue reading First-Generation Students Continue to Face Barriers Post-Graduation
