National Foundation Funds Program To Improve College Access 
posted February 14, 2005


Hamilton County is one of eight communities to receive a grant from the Lumina Foundation for increasing college access and student success.

'Based on the strength of the high school reform initiative funded by the Carnegie Corp. of New York and the Public Education Foundation, the Lumina Foundation asked this community to make a proposal to increase the number of high school students who enter and graduate from college,' said Dan Challener, president of the Public Education Foundation. 'It's rare for a national foundation to come to a local foundation to request a proposal,' he added. 'It means they think this community is doing good work, and they want to help it succeed.'

The others chosen are Sacramento, Milwaukee, New York City, Burlington, VT, Chicago, Seattle, and San Antonio.

'Although 70 percent of Hamilton County's high school graduates enter college, there are gaps by ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography, and some do not complete college. Our goal is to increase both the percentage who enter and the percentage who obtain a postsecondary degree within six years,' said Susan Street, executive director of the College Access Center. She will direct the work of the new Partnership for College Access and Success (PCAS).

Members of PCAS -- a broadly inclusive group of educational institutions, community based organizations, service agencies and foundations -- met with over 50 organizations from July to December 2004 to create the proposal, which has now been funded with a $210,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation, in collaboration with the Academy for Educational Development (AED).

PCAS members will meet to celebrate and begin working on implementating the program on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 8-9 a.m. at the East Lake Boys & Girls Club, 2125 East 25th St. All organizations with a stake in college access and success are invited.

PCAS activities designed to increase college access include providing more college-bound orientation and information programs for middle and high schools students and their parents; Super Goal Saturday programs to provide combined income tax and financial aid assistance (the first was presented Feb. 12); and expanding Camp College, a summer college admission preparation program for rising 10th and 12th graders.

To increase college success for all Hamilton County students, particularly for those who are economically disadvantaged or first-generation college students, the PCAS program will work to increase availability financial aid and tutoring, develop mentoring programs, and create a directory of community services that can help students stay in school. This pilot college-success program will be based on both national and local research into what causes students to withdraw from college before graduating, officials said.

Local partners that have been involved in creating the plan and will implement it together include Hamilton County Department of Education, Public Education Foundation, College Access Center, Community Foundation, Community Impact of Chattanooga, Girls Inc., the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Urban League, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Hunter Museum of American Art, Passport Scholars, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (including several federally funded programs administered by the university), Chattanooga State, READ Chattanooga, The Links Inc., the Women's Council on Diversity, and several churches.

The program hopes to enlist as many other community organizations as possible, according to Susan Street: 'Our goal is to create a college-going culture in Chattanooga, and we want everyone in Chattanooga to be involved. It's going to take a lot of partners.'

Lumina Foundation for Education (www.luminafoundation.org) is an Indianapolis-based, private foundation dedicated to expanding access and success in education beyond high school. The Academy for Educational Development (www.aed.org), a nonprofit educational and social change organization with offices in Washington, DC and New York City, manages this project for the Lumina Foundation. The College Access Center (www.collegeaccesscenter.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase the number of students from Chattanooga and Hamilton County who attend and complete college, thereby enhancing and enriching their lives as well as the economic and civic vitality of our community.