Promising Approaches to Expanding Access to Higher Education

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OVERVIEW

These Vermont organizations are employing promising approaches to make college more accesible and affordable and to prepare students for postsecondary success.


LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS


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MAKING COLLEGE MORE ACCESSIBLE & AFFORDABLE

 Committing to Student Support

The College of St. JosephThe College of St. Joseph in Rutland provides students with high-quality education at an affordable price. Since its inception in 1956, the independent, private liberal arts college has made a commitment that students who want to attend and are accepted to the school will not be deterred by financial concerns.

About 65% of the college’s approximately 500 students are from Vermont, the highest percentage among independent colleges in the state. The college works to make education affordable, procuring financial aid for students in need, as well as streamlining institutional expenses, developing additional revenue streams, and adopting savvy business practices to control costs. Approaches include contracting out college facilities after school hours and during the summer, and maintaining a career-oriented curriculum that uses fieldwork to bridge classroom studies and career opportunities. The latter approach enhances student appeal to potential employers and reduces operating costs.

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Increasing Aid to Vermont Students


The Vermont Student Assistance CorporationThe Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) provides information and financial resources for Vermont students to pursue postsecondary education, within or outside the state. One of the only state financing agencies for students in the country, VSAC is a public nonprofit that provides grants, loans, scholarships, and career and education planning. Beyond administering financial resources, VSAC provides college planning resources including guidance counselors to serve the secondary school system, implements early intervention and outreach programs to middle and high school-age students, and conducts research to better understand postsecondary aspirations, challenges, and motivations among students and parents. By building relationships with students as they progress through school, VSAC helps families plan and prepare for college, and is positioned to provide more effective aid to students.

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Opening Access to Opportunities

Champlain CollegeThrough its Vermont First scholarship program, Champlain College  is increasing the number of Vermont residents enrolled in the school and opening postsecondary access to students whose families have little or no experience with higher education. The program provides aid to Vermont residents who are the first in their families to attend college.

Vermont First is one way the college takes on a challenge familiar to many Vermont institutions—striking a balance between the numbers of out-of-state and Vermont students enrolled. While out-of-state student enrollment is necessary to help offset the lower tuition offered to Vermont students, it can also pose problems by leaving fewer spaces for Vermont students. In recent years, the majority of Champlain College’s student body has been composed of out-of-state students. Through Vermont First, Champlain College seeks to create opportunities for first-generation college students and help build Vermont’s workforce.

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PREPARING STUDENTS FOR POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS

Developing Skills and Strategies for Success

Community College of VermontAn Introduction to College Studies course at Community College of Vermont, offered to all Vermont high school students, seeks to build student aspirations for postsecondary education by exploring the skills and expectations necessary at the college level. Students develop time management, test-taking, communication, and study skills. The focus is on stress management and goal-setting, as well as learning to seek and use available informational resources.

The Community College of Vermont’s Access to Success program helps students identify areas where they need improvement, and builds those academic skills prior to enrolling in college level courses.

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Improving Readiness and Affordability

College Connections Linking Learning to Lifeoffers opportunities to explore postsecondary education options for students in their sophomore, junior and senior years of high school, as well as those in alternative education programs or who may have dropped out of school. Developed by Linking Learning to Life, a Burlington-based nonprofit that provides school-to-career opportunities for youth, the dual enrollment program allows students to take college courses at area institutions, while earning both high school and college credit for successful completion.

College Connections targets students facing significant barriers to college success, including those who would be the first in their families to attend college, those from low-income families, students learning English as a second language, minority students, and those with disabilities.

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Transforming Aspirations and Achievement

College for Every StudentCollege for Every Student, a national nonprofit based in Cornwall, Vermont, works to raise student aspirations and performance so that they can prepare for, gain access to, and succeed in college.

With a focus on underserved students in urban and rural areas, College for Every Student develops partnerships between schools and colleges to provide mentoring and student leadership programs. Emphasis is placed on improving academic performance and attendance, developing personal and academic goals, and ensuring that students graduate from high school and attend and succeed in college. College for Every Student seeks to offset the perceptions in many low-income families that often deter students from considering or pursuing college attendance.

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