The St. Louis Graduates High School to College Center will again offer free college counseling and financial aid assistance to college bound students beginning June 2 through August 1.
It is the first of its kind in the St. Louis region, targeting first-generation and low-income students who have limited access to resources. St. Louis Graduates’ goal is to increase the number of adults in the region that have a post-secondary degree by 2020.
“The St. Louis Graduates High School to College Center will help students through the steps they need to take to ensure their financial aid is in place, they are enrolled in classes, and they are ready to go in August,” said Faith Sandler, executive director of the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis and co-chair of St. Louis Graduates, at last year’s St. Louis Graduates open house.
Last year, the center served 214 students.
Daisha Tankins was one of those students. Tankins is a first-generation college student who had graduated from McCluer High School when she sought financial aid assistance and admitted feeling “overwhelmed.”
Her financial aid concerns could have kept her from heading off to college, joining an estimated 10 to 40 percent of students nationwide who have intentions to enroll in each fall but fail to do so. This is commonly referred to as the “summer melt.” Laura Winter, project manager of St. Louis Graduates, says the reasons vary from incomplete financial aid packages to students missing important deadlines.
“We wanted to address ‘Summer Melt’ with a good team in place to create a community response to a community problem,” Winter said. “The literature and research shows that if students have access to as little as two to three hours of extra counseling in summer months, you can prevent ‘summer melt.’”
She says according to data provided by the National Student Clearinghouse 63 percent of students who received services from St. Louis Graduates enrolled as full-time students in the fall – and 56 percent were still enrolled as full time students in the spring. Winter plans to follow-up with these students and said she hopes they will return as volunteers “to support students who are making that transition themselves.”
St. Louis Graduates High School to College Center St. Louis Graduates, located at 618 N. Skinker Blvd. in the Delmar Loop, will remain open hours are Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Learn more at StLouisGraduates.org
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