UA Launches College-Access Initiative
Five recent University graduates have been selected as advisers for the College Advising Corps, with the goal of building a pipeline to college for underserved high school students.

By Doug Carroll, University Relations — Communications
July 1, 2015

Advising Corps.jpg

(Photo courtesy of College Advising Corps)


An initiative designed to increase the number of low-income, first-generation students who enter and complete college will launch in five Tucson high schools in the fall, staffed by recent University of Arizona graduates.

The work of the College Advising Corps, a 10-year-old nonprofit organization whose educational partners include some of the nation’s premier public and private universities, was introduced to Tucson educators at a breakfast on the UA campus last week.

"We’ve been looking at ways of increasing college access," said Kasey Urquidez, the University’s dean of undergraduate admissions. "Building a pipeline to higher education is something we are committed to."

The new program is seen as another way for the UA to continue the steady growth it has experienced in minority student enrollment over the past 30 years. That number has increased at a rate of about 1 percent per year, to 37.5 percent last fall.

The UA already has demonstrated success with Hispanic students, who represent nearly 60 percent of minority enrollment at the University. The six-year graduation rate for Hispanic students is comparable to that of the overall student population, and the retention rate has been climbing since 2010, to more than 80 percent, which bodes well for the future.

The Advising Corps, which has the financial backing of several large corporations and foundations, will place full-time advisers in Flowing Wells, Amphitheater and Sunnyside high schools, plus two high schools in the Tucson Unified School District that are still to be determined.

The advisers will begin a month of training next week under program director Catalina Carlos, who already was on staff at the UA. They will assist students at all four grade levels with an assortment of college-readiness tasks and activities that overloaded school guidance counselors often have little time to administer.

Areas of focus will include college academic requirements, the admissions process, financial aid, entrance exams, parent orientation and campus visits. A comprehensive, data-rich evaluation will be produced at the end of the academic year.

The UA will be the only Advising Corps-affiliated university in Arizona, and it is committed to the program for at least two years.

"A college-educated workforce has never been more important to the state of Arizona," said Melissa Vito, the UA’s senior vice president of student affairs and enrollment management. "The College Advising Corps program will reach more high school students about what it takes to continue their education."

Other prominent universities in the program include Duke, North Carolina, Michigan, Texas, USC and the University of California, Berkeley. According to the Advising Corps, high school students who work with its advisers are 30 percent more likely to apply to a four-year institution of higher education and 24 percent more likely to be accepted.

"By assisting more students and their families with college information early and throughout high school, we will continue to grow the college-going rate for all populations, including first-generation and underrepresented students," Urquidez said.

Krystal Price, who graduated in May from the UA in nutritional sciences, will work as an adviser at Flowing Wells High School and said she can’t wait to get started.

"Sometimes (high school students) have so many aspirations and no idea where to start," said Price, herself a first-generation college student who graduated from Mountain View High in the Marana Unified School District.

"I want to be part of providing the route. A big obstacle is confidence: 'Can I do this?' That holds a lot of kids back. They need to see themselves as being able to do it."

The principal at Flowing Wells, Jim Brunenkant, attended the kickoff event and said the school has publicized its commitment to send 100 percent of its students on to postsecondary education or training. Last spring’s graduating class was at 93 percent, he said.

Steve Holmes, the new superintendent of the Sunnyside Unified School District, said the Advising Corps program "aligns well with our vision" and should relieve some of the burden shouldered by guidance counselors, of whom fewer than a half-dozen may serve as many as 2,200 students.

He said the one-to-one meetings that advisers will conduct with some students have the potential to be game changers.

"We’re hoping to tailor those visits so that the conversations are targeted," Holmes said. "The adviser can really focus on 'How can we get you ready for college?'"

The new program follows a six-year Gear Up grant for college preparation that ended in 2010, according to Rudy McCormick, the UA’s director of early outreach. That grant placed cohort limitations on grade-level access, he said, but the Advising Corps initiative does not.

"These schools with advisers will look different than the ones that don’t have them," McCormick said. "This is one more person to get involved and bring in new ideas. The emphasis is to build on the college-going culture."  

Extra info

For more information about the College Advising Corps, go to http://advisingcorps.org. 

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Catalina Carlos

UA Admissions and New Student Enrollment

520-621-3112

martinez@u.arizona.edu