College For Every Student Announces National Search to Help Four Low-Income Schools

College For Every Student is launching its second national search to help schools in need of college and career readiness support. Four schools will receive Closing the Gap awards, and benefit from three years of CFES program support.

“In our first year as a Closing the Gap school, we are seeing a change in the way our freshman discuss their futures,” said Jesse Unkel, Assistant Principal at Washington Marion-High School in Louisiana, part of the first round of program recipients who joined CFES in the fall of 2015.

“Over the last 30 years, the gap in college going and degree attainment between low-income youth and their higher income peers has risen steadily,” said CFES CEO and President Rick Dalton. “Today wealthy students are ten times more likely to earn a college degree than their classmates from poverty. Unless we close this gap, the consequences will be catastrophic to our economy and our country.”

A national non-profit that has served 700 schools across the country, and helped 75,000 low-income students access and succeed in college, College For Every Student has committed to scale up and help one million low-income youth attain college degrees by 2025.

The College For Every Student model is tailored to fit the needs and culture of a particular set of young people. Volunteers, educators, and other partners who work with CFES Scholars receive ongoing professional development in building their program and they become part of a supportive global network. Ninety-nine percent of CFES Scholars graduate from high school and 95 percent attend college.

Every CFES Scholar engages in three high-impact practices – Mentoring, Leadership Through Service, and Pathways to College. Research has shown these practices develop The Essential Skills, including raised aspirations, adaptability, grit, resilience, teamwork, leadership, and other competencies that promote social and educational uplift.

The Closing the Gap awards are being funded by private donors and will fully support one school for three years. Three additional schools will receive awards covering half of the participation cost (or $15,000 annually); these schools will be asked to find matching support from other sources.

Details on the Closing The Gap program, including an application, can be found at www.collegefes.org.

A Better Way to Climb the Ladder to College Success (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
CFES Students Train to Become Leaders (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Responding to a Global Crisis: Helping One Million More Low-Income Students Attain College Degrees (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Closing the Skills Gap: Helping Young People Become Exceptional (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Book Lauds College For Every Student’s Success with Schools (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
GE-Published Report Identifies Steps to Close Skills Gap for Low-Income Students (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About CFES Brilliant Pathways

CFES Brilliant Pathways is a global leader in helping K-12 underserved students from rural and urban communities become college and career ready, giving students an opportunity to forge their own route to a bright future. For 29 years, CFES has worked closely with schools, colleges and businesses in urban and rural areas to help students become college and career ready through mentoring and by equipping them with the EssentialSkills that include perseverance, agility, goal setting, networking, teamwork and leadership (www.brilliantpathways.org)