Students with college questions find answers at Delmar Loop center
Marvin Bullard Jr. graduated from University City high school in May with plans to study computer science at Mineral Area College.
“I want to work in computer sciences, maybe computer programming for business,” he said. “It seems fun and there are big opportunities for computer science. You can’t find anything today that doesn’t have to do with computers. I want to be a part of it.”
While Bullard has his plans in place, he has questions about how to register for orientation. “I had to do it through this online process, and it was really confusing,” he said.
Those questions led Bullard to the St. Louis Graduates High School to College Center in the Delmar Loop. The High School to College Center provides free college counseling to students like Bullard who have college plans in place but have questions in the summer between high school graduation and college enrollment.
At the High School to College Center, Bullard was provided with an account to Bridgit, an online program developed by College Bound. The program asks students questions about their college plans and provides a task list to be completed before students can matriculate. This task list guides counseling sessions at the center, which engages counselors from 23 area schools and nonprofit organizations over the summer.
Through Bridgit, Bullard learned that in addition to orientation, he has some things to complete on his FAFSA, the free application for federal student aid that is required for all public and institutional financial assistance. “I knew I had some things to finish on it, but I didn’t realize how serious it was until I came in.”
Bullard met with Danielle Washington, program manager at Wyman Center and volunteer at the High School to College Center, who helped him register for orientation and review the course options for his first semester at college.
“Marvin intends to use his A+ scholarship to attend Mineral Area College, but he had not completed his FAFSA, which is required to access A+. We walked through what he needs to do to complete that important piece,” said Washington.
The High School to College Center is a community effort to address “summer melt,” the phenomenon where high school graduates fail to matriculate at college as planned because of last-minute challenges the summer after graduation. Summer melt is estimated to affect as many as 40 percent of transitioning high school students, with low-income and first-generation students disproportionately affected.
Open for its third summer, the High School to College Center has a track record of assisting students through to college enrollment. Last year, 70 percent of students who visited the center made it to classes in the fall.
Support from Monsanto Company, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, United Way of Greater St. Louis and others enables the High School to College Center to provide students with free assistance from experienced counselors, including financial aid advisors through The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis.
Bullard advised other recent high school graduates to visit the center. “They should definitely come in if they are questioning anything they will do before going to college,” he said.
The High School to College Center is located at 618 N. Skinker Blvd. in space provided by Washington University. It will be open through July 31. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Counseling sessions are on a drop-in basis; no appointments are necessary. For more information, visit www.stlouisgraduates.org.
