Godwin Heights College Access Collaborative: Increasing the Number of Students Pursuing Postsecondary Education
Location
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
Description
PURPOSE: Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) has a goal of increasing the proportion of Michigan residents with postsecondary degrees or credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Grand Valley State University (GVSU) partnered with Godwin Heights Public Schools and MCAN to place a school counseling graduate assistant in Godwin Heights High School (GHHS) for the 2015-2016 school year to increase the number of seniors moving on to college. CHALLENGE: The GHHS community was negatively impacted by the 2009 closing of the local General Motors plant. The primary challenge of this partnership was to increase the number of high school seniors applying to and attending postsecondary programs, thereby increasing their future earning potential. EXPERIENCE: The College Access Advisor helped the school counselors, Kristi Bonilla and Tish Stevenson, by providing one-on-one support to urban first generation college-going students as they applied to and sought funding for postsecondary programs. The adviser also helped foster a college-going culture within GHHS. OUTCOME: In total, 88 percent of the senior class applied to at least one postsecondary program, and so far 80 percent of the class has been accepted to at least one program. In a class of 118 students, a total of 352 applications were submitted. IMPACT: More GHHS students than ever applied to and were accepted by postsecondary programs over the course of the 2015-2016 school year. Students received invaluable and necessary one-on-one assistance with navigating the path to college, thus increasing the number of first generation college-going students in this community.
Godwin Heights College Access Collaborative: Increasing the Number of Students Pursuing Postsecondary Education
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
PURPOSE: Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) has a goal of increasing the proportion of Michigan residents with postsecondary degrees or credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Grand Valley State University (GVSU) partnered with Godwin Heights Public Schools and MCAN to place a school counseling graduate assistant in Godwin Heights High School (GHHS) for the 2015-2016 school year to increase the number of seniors moving on to college. CHALLENGE: The GHHS community was negatively impacted by the 2009 closing of the local General Motors plant. The primary challenge of this partnership was to increase the number of high school seniors applying to and attending postsecondary programs, thereby increasing their future earning potential. EXPERIENCE: The College Access Advisor helped the school counselors, Kristi Bonilla and Tish Stevenson, by providing one-on-one support to urban first generation college-going students as they applied to and sought funding for postsecondary programs. The adviser also helped foster a college-going culture within GHHS. OUTCOME: In total, 88 percent of the senior class applied to at least one postsecondary program, and so far 80 percent of the class has been accepted to at least one program. In a class of 118 students, a total of 352 applications were submitted. IMPACT: More GHHS students than ever applied to and were accepted by postsecondary programs over the course of the 2015-2016 school year. Students received invaluable and necessary one-on-one assistance with navigating the path to college, thus increasing the number of first generation college-going students in this community.