Selective College Matching for Low Income First Generation Students

1. Selective College Matching for Low Income First Generation Students Gear Up Conference April 2016

2. Workshop Objectives • Understand the rationale for launching a Selective College Match effort • Learn the criteria used in selecting the most appropriate “college match” college • Explore the components of YPIE’s Selective College Match program and how its effectiveness is being measured

3. Yonkers Partners in Education • We believe that every student we work with has the right • to earn a college degree and have the opportunity • to forge a successful career and meaningful life • Nonprofit, community based organization established in 2008 • Private donor and grant funded • Programs and services built on four strategic pillars: • college awareness • college readiness • college access • college persistence

4. Yonkers, NY • Fourth largest school district in New York State • 27,000 students • 31 Pre K-8 Schools; 8 high schools Ethnicity • 54% Hispanic • 22% Black • 17% White • 7% Asian Low Income/First Generation • 75% free and reduced lunch; 90% free and reduced in high schools Academically Underprepared • 14% college and career ready as defined by NY State

5. Meet Josh – Class of 2015, Gorton High School

6. Why a Selective College Match Initiative? • Students from households in the bottom income quartile make up just 3% of enrollment at the nation’s most competitive colleges. Students from the top economic quartile comprise 72%. • Only 23% of high-achieving, low-income students apply to selective schools.  • Only at the most selective schools do high-achieving, lower-income students graduate at rates equal to students from higher income backgrounds. Graduation rates sharply decrease for lower-income, high-achieving students in less competitive schools. • Selective schools provide more financial aid, more resources, and increased retention supports. Ja2016 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Report

7. Why a Selective College Match Initiative? • Many first generation, high-achieving students unaware of and not applying or attending the most selective colleges they qualify for. • Student under matching diminishes college graduation rates and earning potential • Yonkers students deserve the opportunity to graduate from the nation’s best schools with manageable or no debt.

8. Goals • Create a database of selective colleges appropriate for low-income, first generation students • Support students and families to navigate the application and enrollment process to top tier colleges • Increase Yonkers students’ applications/acceptances/completion at selective colleges

9. Creating the YPIE Selective College Match database • Where to Begin • 95 colleges and universities in 12 states within 400 miles of Yonkers • Based on USNWR Top 100 Lists and Other Research • Quantitative Research • Method One Criteria • Method Two Criteria • Qualitative Research

10. Quantitative Research • METHOD ONE CRITERIA • >97% freshman living on campus • >91% freshman retention rate • >11% Pell grant recipients • >17% diversity • <$29,000 ending student debt • METHOD TWO CRITERIA • >80% graduation rates for underrepresented minorities • <4% lower than graduation rates for non-minorities

11. 60 Selective Colleges Meeting Criteria 37 colleges meet both Method One and Two criteria 8 colleges meet Method One criteria 15 colleges meet Method Two criteria Amherst Barnard Bates Boston Coll. Bowdoin Brandeis Brown Bryn Mawr Clark Colby Colgate Columbia Conn. Coll. Cornell Dartmouth Dickinson Georgetown Hamilton Harvard Haverford Hopkins Middlebury MIT Mt Holyoke Princeton Skidmore Swarthmore Tufts Union UPenn UVirginia Vassar Wellesley Wesleyan Wm. & Mary Williams Yale Babson Bentley Binghamton Bucknell Emerson Holy Cross Lafayette Loyola Maryland Muhlenberg NYU UVermont Villanova Wash & Lee Wheaton (MA) Worcester Poly Boston Univ. F & M Hobart RPI Smith St. Lawrence Syracuse UConn

12. Qualitative Research Admissions Representatives • Head of Admissions • Westchester Representative • Diversity Representative • Diversity/First Gen Recruitment/Orientation Events • Support Services for First Gen Students • Academic • Financial • Social/Emotional/Other • Other Notable Programs and Services

13. Program Metrics College Admissions (at Barron’s Tier 1-4 Colleges) • # Applied • #Accepted • # Attending (Intentions) College Enrollment and Persistence • % Enrolled within 6 months of graduation • % Graduating Within 6 years of enrollment Other • Relationships with selective colleges • Diversity Weekend Visits • College Rep Visits

14. Program Rollout: Class of 2016 • 5-10 eligible first gen/low-income students per high school based on grades, test scores – including Roosevelt High School • College trips to Vassar and Wesleyan • Student and Parent Meetings/List Development • Summer: SAT/ACT Prep and Essay Writing Support • Lined Up Volunteer Support for Essays and Supplemental Essays in Fall • Diversity Weekends – Applications (Colby, Vasssar, RPI, American) • Financial Aid – FAFSA, CSS Profiles • Social Emotional Support

15. Meet Briana

16. Meet Jamika

17. Thank You Volunteers!

18. Selective College Outcomes – Roosevelt High School

19. Ivy League Trailblazers • http://nyti.ms/1E3Uzp0

20. Workshop Facilitators • Ellen Cutler Levy, ecutler@ypie.org • Stephanie Russo, srusso@ypie.org • Jessica Striano, jstriano @ypie.org • Yonkers Partners in Education • www.ypie.org • 914-377-4882