Improving high school graduation
and college entrance rates
for at-risk students.

 
 
 

Launched in 1996, the Associated Colleges of Illinois' (ACI) College Readiness Program is designed to increase the number of minority and low-income students who successfully graduate from high school and continue their education in college.

RATIONALE: The nation's population of minority students has risen to 42 percent of public school enrollment – up from 22 percent three decades ago. These students are graduating from high school at rates far below white students. In 2002, the national graduation rate for white students was 71%; for African American students – 56%; for Latino students – 54%. And even among those minority students who did graduate from high school, only 23% of African American students and 20% of Hispanic students left high school with both a diploma and “college-ready” skills required to apply to a four-year college. With the population of college-age minority students expected to boom in the next decade, while the greatest job growth is likely to emerge from fields that demand college degrees – the United States soon may face a critical labor shortage.

ACI's College Readiness Program leverages the expertise of our member institutions to deliver a unique, four-year, year-round program that maps the road to college for students who are usually the first family member to pursue higher education. These at-risk students are more likely to graduate in four years from the 23 small, private colleges and universities of the Associated Colleges of Illinois than from other schools – because ACI members offer the personal attention and small class sizes disadvantaged students need, and because they have a long history of welcoming minorities to their campuses. Today, average minority enrollment at ACI colleges and universities is now 15%.

GOALS: ACI's College Readiness Program seeks to help build a 21st century, college-educated workforce by:

  • Increasing high school completion and college enrollment of Illinois minority, low-income, and first generation (at risk) high school students.
  • Enhancing at-risk students' academic readiness for college-level coursework.
  • Increasing at-risk students' access to college campuses and to the experience of college life.
  • Demystifying the college selection and enrollment process for at-risk students.

HOW IT WORKS: ACI's College Readiness Program is a partnership with member colleges and youth service organizations, which refer students to the program. Three key factors distinguish ACI's program from other college access initiatives: 1) Not restricted to gifted students, ACI's College Readiness Program seeks to enable any at-risk student who aspires to college to realize that aspiration; 2) ACI's College Readiness Program extends across students' four-year high school career and provides activities during both the academic year and during summer vacation; 3) ACI member institutions provide students with “learning laboratories,” where they can experience the realities of campus life. Each month throughout the academic year, College Readiness students attend full-day, Saturday seminars, hosted by ACI members, where they build academic and personal skills, and acquire real-world campus experiences. These Saturday seminars:

  • Expose students to diverse college campuses on long-term, on-going basis
  • Introduce students to a variety of college majors and pathways
  • Build competencies through coaching and mentoring at each workshop
  • Develop peer relationships with others who aspire to be “college ready”
  • Build student “portfolios to college”: academic plan with annual goals, resume, personal statement/essay, admission and scholarship applications.

Partner youth service agencies reinforce these lessons throughout the school year, while week-long, summer residential academies focus in on specific academic skills and aspects of college preparation.

REACH: ACI's College Readiness Program enrolls more than 600 high school students in Chicago, East St. Louis and Rockford, Illinois. Complementary services reach hundreds more through college fairs, customized bus tours, parent programs, and services targeted to Hispanic teens and their families. ACI's College Readiness Program has been replicated by the Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges and Iowa College Foundation; has been recognized as a “Best Practice” by the National College Access Network, and has received the “Promising Practices” Award from the Workforce Board of Metropolitan Chicago.

RESULTS: ACI's College Readiness Program has produced consistently positive results:

  • 99% of College Readiness students graduate high school
  • 94% of these students continue their education beyond high school.

Comprehensive, annual assessments evaluate the program against defined benchmarks, including:

  • 90% of College Readiness seniors will enroll in higher education.
  • 100% of College Readiness seniors will graduate from high school.
  • The annual average GPA of all College Readiness participants will be at least 3.0.
  • The average ACT score of the senior class will be at least 20.
  • 90% of juniors will have identified at least three colleges that interest them by the end of their junior year.
  • By March 1 of each year, 90% of seniors will have completed at least three college applications.
  • By July 1 of each year, 90% of College Readiness seniors will have completed at least one scholarship application.

The results of annual assessments are published in November of each year.