LANCASTER, Pa.- The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation today announced that it will award a $1 million grant to a partnership of schools headed by Franklin & Marshall College that is aimed at significantly increasing college enrollment and graduation rates among low-income high school and community college students. The grant, one of 10 awarded nationwide, and one of two in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (the other was awarded to Penn State University), is part of a nationwide initiative. The four partnership schools - Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson College (private, liberal arts colleges) and Millersville University and Shippensburg University (public institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) - will develop a college access network over a four-year period to provide one-on-one advising services to 2,400 high school students located in nine school districts and their 11 high schools in rural central Pennsylvania. The high schools are in Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata and Mifflin Counties. The focus area was chosen based upon findings reported in "A Rising Tide: The Current State of Higher Education in the Commonwealth" (Educational Policy and Leadership Center and the Learning Alliance for Higher Education, April 2006) that concluded that only 50-63 percent of students graduating from these high schools plan to go on to any postsecondary education at all, with an even smaller percentage completing four-year college programs. "We are particularly pleased to help implement this program in rural areas, which are often overlooked," said John Fry, President of Franklin & Marshall. "I am very optimistic that the combined efforts of Franklin & Marshall and its public and private partners will make a significant difference to the educational development of communities in need." Following in the tradition of the AmeriCorps and Teach for America programs, the college access initiative will recruit and train college seniors to work full-time as advisers for one to two years following graduation. The goal is to combat staggering rates of college-qualified, low-income high school graduates who fail to earn bachelor's degrees by providing college admission and financial aid guidance. Lack of information about the admission process and financial aid are among the primary barriers to college for low-income students. "I have long believed in increasing access to higher education for Pennsylvania's rural and urban high school graduates," said Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell. "The programs to which the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has awarded grants, the joint venture by Franklin & Marshall College and Dickinson College, as well as Millersville University and Shippensburg University, and the program proposed by Penn State University, will do just that. "We are honored to be the only state in the union to have two programs funded and grateful to the Foundation for the opportunity to help high-achieving, low-income students from across the Commonwealth to enroll in college." According to Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Executive Director Matthew J. Quinn, "We are squandering a huge national resource when millions of America's best high school graduates never get to college, or fail to advance beyond a two-year community college program. Our Foundation is committed to addressing the college enrollment gap by providing crucial information to students facing financial barriers." "This grant is a wonderful example of private colleges and public universities cooperating and combining their resources to increase access to higher education for the Commonwealth's students," said Kenneth Jarin, Chairman of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. College access interns will work with students in rural high schools as postsecondary education advisers. Working alongside teachers and counselors, they will mentor students who show promise for success in postsecondary educations.
The interns will meet with students to review requirements for admission to postsecondary programs and offer advice on how to meet those requirements. Topics will include standardized tests, applying for admission and financial aid, academic preparation for higher education, and higher education "fit." In addition, interns will host group sessions for families on various topics related to higher education. "This grant is an example of the excellent cooperation not only among public and private higher education institutions in the Commonwealth, but more importantly of our collective commitment to the future of young Pennsylvanians," said Dr. William N. Ruud, president of Shippensburg University. "These funds will allow our four institutions to provide talented students in the target counties with information and assistance they need to make their educational dreams a reality." "The growing education gap in America is a huge concern for us," said Millersville University President, Francine G. McNairy. "Millersville University is pleased to be a part of a partnership that will provide an education for people who often fall through the cracks."
"Dickinson is excited to be a part of a dynamic partnership that will utilize the capabilities of recent graduates to reach out to students in rural communities and help to guide them in finding their way to college and the resources to pay for it," said William G. Durden, president of Dickinson College. The other grant recipients are Brown University, Loyola College in Maryland, Tufts University, the University of Alabama, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Missouri, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Utah. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation's programs include scholarships to undergraduate, graduate and high school students, and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need.
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