Strengthening the College Pipeline for North Carolina’s Students

Amir FarokhiChief Operating Officer

Meredith BazemoreRegional Program Director

The national student-to-school

guidance counselor ratio of 488:1 means that the average student

spends 20 minutes per year talking to

a counselor.

In NC: 375:1

The Need• According to the U.S. Department of Education,

90% of the fastest-growing jobs today require a postsecondary education.

• Many low-income, first-generation college, and underrepresented students do not receive the advice and support they need to identify and enroll in colleges where they will persist to degree.– Nearly 25% of low-income students who score in

the top quartile on standardized tests never go to college.

– Of those who do enroll, many do not obtain a degree.

Our Innovative Model• Near-peer college advisers full-time in high schools

o 60% of advisers are low-income, first-generation college and/or underrepresented themselves

o Two-year service opportunity for recent college graduateso Intensive pre- and in-service training

• Research-based, “college match” strategyo Helps students enroll in schools that will serve them wello Not a recruitment program for partner colleges/universities

• Open-door, whole school approacho No cost to students and families

• Serves students through partnership o Schools, communities, families and higher education

• Anchors at postsecondary institutions

Rural Expansion with

• In 2013, the Carolina College Advising Corps was serving 54 high schools in NC, 22 of which were rural.

• In 2014, JMBE came to us and indicated an interest in serving more of NC’s rural students to help drive state economic development.

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Expansion in rural North Carolina

483 “regular”public high schools in North Carolina

273 classified as “rural fringe”, “rural

distant” or “rural remote” by federal DOE

251 currently un-served rural high schools in

NC

Additional scree

ns

54 Carolina CAC partner schools (2013)

22 Carolina CAC partner schools are designated “rural”

Excludes vocational, exceptional children, alternative, charter, and schools that do not currently serve 11th and 12th gradeAddt’l screens may

include:• Free/reduced lunch rates• County bachelors degree

attainment • Geographic proximity• An eye to statewide

saturation/closing regional gaps

• Other programmatic criteria

Source: NC DPI

4 Great Partners + 64 New Advisers +

Strengthening the College Pipeline for NC Rural Students

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2015-2016 in North Carolina52 counties served

(*complete or near-complete saturation in 23 counties)

AlamanceAlexander*Avery*BertieBladen*CabarrusCaldwell*Caswell*CatawbaChatham*Cherokee*DavidsonDare*Duplin*

DurhamEdgecombeFranklin*GastonGraham*Granville*GreeneGuilfordHalifax*HertfordJohnstonIredellLeeMartin*

MecklenburgMooreNashNorthampton*PenderPerson*PittRobesonRockingham*RowanRutherford*Sampson*StanleyStokes

Surry*Swain UnionVance*WakeWarren* Washington*WayneWilkesYadkin

Held 50,893 1:1 meetings with 10,985 seniors; Helped 3,037 students register for the SAT and 832

students register for the ACT; Helped with 24,449 college applications; and Helped secure $25,600,633 scholarships and

institutional aid for the Class of 2015.

In 2014-15, CAC Advisers in North Carolina:

Compared to the seniors in their school who did not meet with a CAC adviser, students who did meet with a CAC adviser in North Carolina were:

26% more likely to submit their FAFSA

23% more likely to apply to college;

17% more likely to be accepted to college

Closing the Gap:

Impact of College Advising Corpson Students Served

The gap in applying to 1 or more colleges is reversed with a change of 4 percentage points

The gap in applying for FAFSA is closed by 4.5 percentage points

The gap in being accepted to 1 or more colleges is closed by 6.8 percentage points

College Advising Corps

advisingcorps.org