One of the most effective ways to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty for families in our region is to help area high school students graduate and ensure that they have a post-secondary plan in place which focuses on either additional education or a career.
When they are able to do this, students greatly increase their income potential for a lifetime, raise expectations for future generations, and create a stronger workforce and economy for our region.
Making college and postsecondary training a reality for students is the mission of College Summit, and we are excited by the progress being made. In 2005 the college enrollment rate for St. Louis Public Schools was 38 percent; today that number is 66 percent.
This marks a dramatic shift in attitude – a change in the way students see themselves, their futures and their place in the world. The College Summit program, operating in St. Louis Public, charter high schools, as well Normandy High School, is designed to create a college-going culture and to help students seek education and training after graduation.
To influence this outcome, we bring together a group of students from each participating high school in the summer between their junior and senior years to a college immersion experience. While there they learn intensively about applying for, selecting and attending college – information to which they may not have been previously exposed. They are then tasked with helping their fellow students as peer-leaders.
During the school year they work with teachers – who have also undergone training – to facilitate a college-going culture in their schools.
We know that this program is having a positive effect – the rate of SLPS seniors who applied to college last year was an overwhelming 93 percent. But we also know that a massive roadblock still exists for many students on the path to postsecondary education – preventing too many of those who apply to school from actually attending.
That barrier is, simply, cost.
Students and their families are often wholly unprepared for the sticker-shock they face when they begin considering colleges. In families where parents or caregivers have not previously attended college, the cost can seem insurmountable. Discussions and concerns about how to afford this overwhelming expense can deter students from their plans to attend college or seek other postsecondary training.
Deciding to take that step can seem like a major financial burden – but seeking further education after high school can also be the most important investment students and their families make in their future. It is an action that can change the economic trajectory for students, their families and our community.
College Summit is making great strides in building and sustaining a college-going culture in St. Louis area schools, and beyond. Recognizing the financial burden of affording college, while still helping our students see that path as viable, is the challenge we face going forward. We need to increase conversations within our families, churches, community organizations and schools, and especially with our elected officials, about the importance of finding ways to help today’s students afford post-secondary education opportunities.
In doing so, we can help them become leaders who will keep our region strong in the future.
Leslie K. Gill is executive director of College Summit.
