College Summit And Bellwether Education Release Position Paper Calling For Educators And The Business Community To Better Prepare Students For The College Process

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- College Summit, a national nonprofit organization seeking to increase college enrollment rates from low-income communities, today released a position paper entitled "Smart Shoppers: The End of the 'College for All' Debate," detailing the need for educators, colleges, nonprofits, and the business community to better equip high school students to be smart shoppers for their postsecondary education. The paper, funded through a sponsorship by Deloitte, was unveiled at a Press Club panel discussion in front of the Deputy Under Secretary Jamie Studley from the U.S. Department of Education and executives from Cisco and Capital One. The paper cites research from organizations like Brookings Institute and Pew Research Center about the need to get students to and through college, and the importance of enabling them to choose the right college for them, the degrees they should pursue and ways they can pay for it.

In the paper, College Summit formulated recommendations for businesses, Congress and educators on the high school and college level to create greater emphasis on preparing students for college. In turn, they also recommended holding students accountable for developing their own college-bound future, including withholding graduation ceremony participation for students that haven't applied for postsecondary education.

The paper was co-authored by J.B. Schramm, founder of College Summit, and Andy Rotherham, co-founder and partner at Bellweather Education. They led a panel discussion that included Kelvin Womack, managing principal, Diversity, Deloitte LLP,, and Carroll McGillian, Senior Manager Education Services at Cisco. The panel was preceded by a keynote address from Bill Eggers, research director for Deloitte's Public Sector practice and author of The Solution Revolution. They were joined by David Turner, a student whose struggles to prepare for and acclimate to college were documented in the paper; he addressed his real world experience of effectively shopping for his postsecondary education.

"The research shows time and time again how college is the single best investment young adults can make in their future," said J.B. Schramm, founder of College Summit. "As educators and businesses continue to encourage students to pursue a college education, it's equally important that we're also arming them with the tools to select the postsecondary education that is the best fit for their individual needs."

Deloitte, a long-standing supporter of College Summit, is working with the organization to help track outcomes of students who have gone through the College Summit program in an effort to make college attendance the norm and to develop a diverse labor pool that will help keep the country competitive. Deloitte and College Summit have developed one of the most comprehensive data reporting systems available for tracking, measuring and improving college enrollment, putting thousands of students in need on a path toward success.

"Through our support of organizations like College Summit, Deloitte is committed to helping students successfully navigate from high school, to and through college, and into meaningful careers," said Womack. "Business has an important role to play in education – and a vested interest in the development of a skilled, diverse workforce. College Summit's research offers compelling recommendations for businesses to help students reach their full potential."  

It is crucial for educators, administrators and students to transform the college conversation from which students should attend – to which college is the right choice for each student based on his/her needs. Outlined below are the nine high-level recommendations from College Summit: 

1)     Build a college-going culture: Beginning with setting high academic expectations for high school students through Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, or other challenging courses, administrators should put a greater emphasis on preparing students for college. Specific actions suggested in "Smart Shoppers: The End of the 'College for All' Debate" include relying on student leaders to support their peers in the college application process, and/or withholding graduation ceremony participation if a student hasn't made a college list, completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, visited a college campus, or applied to a postsecondary institution.

2)     Offer logistical support for students during the college application process: Schools should place a greater emphasis on supporting students through the college application, admissions and financial aid processes, particularly for low-income students. This could include encouraging students to apply to "safety" and "reach" schools to maximize their options.

3)     Proactively recruit and support low-income students: In the last decade, many elite institutions have adopted high-tuition, high-aid financial models that simultaneously raise the cost of attendance and the financial aid awarded to students. Proponents claim this helps institutions target resources for low-income students, many of whom have been scared off by the high price and, as a result, they did not apply; financial aid alone won't address this problem.

4)     Share information to influence action: Policymakers at all levels also have important roles to play in helping students become smart shoppers, starting with making sure that students receive the right information. Recent research found that mailing information packets about admission standards, graduation rates and financial aid policies to low-income students roughly doubled the number of low-income students who apply, attend, and graduate from college. States or nonprofit testing companies could assemble similar packets for every high school senior in their respective state, even tailoring the packets according the student's achievement level and academic interests or including waivers for application fees at state colleges and universities. 

5)     Track college outcomes at the state level: States should adopt rigorous academic standards and hold high schools accountable for preparing students to be ready for college and careers as opposed to only looking at achievement test results and graduation rates.

6)     Enact higher standards for college readiness: In the next reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, Congress should require states to adopt K-12 standards that truly signify college- and career-readiness and track actual college outcomes.

7)     Require greater transparency from higher education institutions: Students can be taught to become "smart shoppers" who evaluate cost, likelihood of completion and career opportunity during the college selection process. Congress should expand the transparency requirements of higher education institutions, particularly around low-income student persistence and graduation rates and the true net price costs of higher education institutions.    

8)     Use federal funding strategically: Congress should use incentives to prepare students for college or career. For example, districts currently receive $2.5 billion to provide professional development to teachers or lower class sizes, but Congress could also stipulate that these funds could be spent on equipping teachers to support students in making smart college decisions. Congress should continue to support competitive grant programs that fund the expansion of access to challenging courses like Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual enrollment courses. They should also continue their support for the State Longitudinal Data System program—which is designed to help teachers make informed decisions to improve student learning—but transition this program from being about building data systems to putting them to use through accountability and information-sharing efforts.

9)     Partner with businesses to engage and support students: Community businesses are encouraged by College Summit to develop explicit partnerships with K-12 schools and offer college scholarships, internships, and a leg up on job openings when local students receive a college degree, and to make the case for stronger K-12 and higher education partnerships, particularly in vocational fields, for students to get the practical training they need. "Smart Shoppers: The End of the 'College for All' Debate" also encourages businesses to use their philanthropic arms to support and scale interventions that are effective in getting low-income students into and through higher education.

"If educators, policymakers, and business leaders follow these recommendations, we could expand the promise of an affordable college education to more Americans, create faster economic growth, and foster greater economic mobility and equality. Americans have a deep understanding of the benefits of education, but we need to create the structure and support system that enable students to make smart decisions about where to go, what degree to pursue, and understand how they can afford it," added Schramm.

To review "Smart Shoppers: The End of the 'College for All' Debate" in full, please download via a link on the College Summit website: www.collegesummit.org/smartshoppers.

About College Summit
College Summit is the national nonprofit that transforms the lives of low-income youth by developing a corps of high school students who lead their peers to and through college. The organization, which has been recognized for its social innovation by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and President Obama, annually serves 50,000 students. College Summit provides a system for improving college access and career success in 180 partner high schools in 15 states. Learn more at www.collegesummit.org.

SOURCE College Summit