In the coming years, the St. Louis region’s economy will require that more than 60 percent of adults have a high-quality certificate, Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree. Our region currently stands at 43 percent of adults with an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree. In a region called to raise racial and economic equity as an absolute priority, this number stands at only 26 percent among African-American residents.
We can and must do better at ensuring that all students have the opportunity to complete a degree. That is why St. Louis Graduates has partnered with St. Louis Regional Chamber and other colleagues to coordinate regional efforts to increase college degree attainment for those in our region with the lowest completion rates – low-income, first-generation students and African American students.
Collaboration is at the heart of an effort to ensure college-intending high school graduates stay on the path to college during the summer after graduation. This week the St. Louis Graduates High School to College Center opened at 618 N. Skinker Blvd. in the Delmar Loop. Counselors from 23 area high schools and college access/success nonprofits are working together to help our young people make successful student transitions onto a post-secondary campus in the fall.
They counsel students on financial aid, housing, orientation and other “what do I do now?” questions. Using College Bound’s student-friendly Bridgit system, students leave with a detailed task list, and center counselors follow up with text reminders and encouragement as they work through it.
Last summer, 167 students representing 50 high schools in the area visited the center for assistance. Of these students, 70 percent enrolled in classes for the fall semester, according to National Student Clearinghouse data.
The High School to College Center is truly a collaborative response to a community challenge and only possible because so many pitch in. The Scholarship Foundation contributes financial aid advisors and laptop computers; Washington University provides space in the student-friendly Delmar Loop; Monsanto, Sigma-Aldrich, and United Way of Greater St. Louis provide funding for counselor stipends and operations.
The St. Louis region’s insufficient degree attainment rate belongs to all of us, affects all of us, and can be improved by all of us. The success of the High School to College Center shows what can happen when a community need is recognized, and caring stakeholders from across the region band together with an innovative solution.
We invite you to be a part of the solution. Come by the High School to College Center this summer with a new high school graduate – your neighbor, your son, your granddaughter, your cousin, the young man in the next pew at your place of worship, the employee working at your restaurant. You, too, can help keep a college-intending student stay on the path to attending college this fall.
Information about the High School to College Center, including hours of operation, can be found at www.StLouisGraduates.org.
Alan Byrd is dean of enrollment services at University of Missouri-St. Louis. Allison Williams is senior vice president-programs at Wyman Center. They serve as co-chairs of St. Louis Graduates.
