| From Recent Research |
"The best economic stimulus package is a high school diploma."
~Gov. Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education
"In [the 16 counties of] the Washington Metro area, 18,200 students dropped out of the class of 2008, at great cost not only to themselves, but also to their communities."
"If just 1,000 local dropouts had graduated, these 1,000 new graduates would likely:
Earn $17 million in additional earnings each year.
Spend an additional $1.2 million each year purchasing vehicles, and at the mid-point of the careers, purchasing homes worth $30 million more than what they would likely have spent without a diploma.
Support 80 new jobs in the region through their increased spending.
Pour an additional $2.4 million annually into state and local tax coffers."
~From "The Economic Benefits from Halving the Dropout Rate: A Boom to Business in the Nation's Largest Metropolitan Areas"
Alliance for Excellent Education, January, 2010
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| Help More Students Get to College |
Thank you!! |
| Quotes of the Month |
"The passion and experience of this group is extremely inspiring. One by one, they give kids a chance. Every dollar is used more efficiently than I have ever seen at any other organization. I have no doubt that my investment of both money and time to this organization will pay huge dividends in the lives of these young people, and thereby to the community at large."
~RFC Volunteer and Donor
"Reach for College! and the staff who work at RFC have made an indelible imprint in the lives of high school students from the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. The curriculum is sound, the staff is supportive, and the systematic approach that they have towards education is secure. As a classroom teacher, I am so appreciative of their commitment to excellence and making a difference in the lives of high school students, as it relates to their post-secondary decisions."
~RFC Teacher | |
| Greetings!
Happy New Year!
As we launch into 2010 with optimism for the futures of the young people we work with, we wanted to share with you some very positive outcomes of how the Reach for College! program is helping so many students graduate from high school and get to college to pursue their dreams. |
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Data Show RFC has Strong Impact on College-Going Rates
68% of RFC students have gone to college over the last four years from schools where normally 33% go
This month RFC completed a follow-up study of DC RFC students over the last four years. These are the results:
92% of RFC seniors graduate from high school. The average DC high school graduation rate is 79.2%.
An average of 68% of RFC students have enrolled in college in the fall after high school graduation over a four-year period. This is versus 33% of DC high school graduates from the same schools.
86% of RFC graduates go to 4-year institutions. 14% go to two-year institutions. This is significant for college retention because students are two- to three- times more likely to graduate from a 4-year institution or university as they are to graduate from a 2-year institution.[1] RFC encourages student retention by discussing a wide variety of colleges, their graduation rates, and by incorporating state of the art techniques and web-based support programs to equip students to be selective consumers in the college selection process.
65% of RFC college students are retained in college. (Data goes as far as senior year, which is as far as we have graduates, having begun in the fall of 2005.) The national average for college retention/graduation for low-income students in the two lowest income quartiles is 27.5%.[2]
The study was of 314 RFC students from the classes of 2006-2009 who graduated from 9 DC public and public charter schools. The great majority (62.7%) of student college enrollment was verified by the National Student Clearinghouse, which verifies college enrollment nationwide. The other means of verification (for students in colleges not participating in the National Student Clearinghouse) were student self-verification via email and high school principal or counselor verification.
RFC is proud of these results, naturally, since it means that so many more DC low-income students are going to and succeeding in college. But we believe the real credit goes to the public and public charter school teachers and families of these students who believe in them and work with them every day, using the RFC curriculum and supports, to help the students reach their goal of college success.
In the 2009-2010 school year, RFC is working with 2,460 9th-12th grade students in 10 schools in DC and Prince George's County, Maryland. In addition, 300 students in 11 schools New York and New Jersey are using the RFC curriculum in an after-school program called the A.C.E. program (Achieving through Coaching and Education) coupling tennis and college-prep, provided in partnership with the United States Tennis Association Eastern.
For more information about what RFC does and where it is working, please visit our website: www.reachforcollege.org .
[1] "American Freshmen: Thirty Year Trends," ACT, 2004.
[2]Bachelor's Degree completion by age 24 rates are:
24.5% in bottom income quartile ($0-39,500)
30.5% in second quartile ($30,501-$68,925)
47.6% in third quartile ($68,926-$116,050)
94.6% in top quartile ($116,051 and above)
"Family Income and Educational Attainment 1970-2007," Postsecondary Education Opportunity, Public Policy Analysis of Opportunity for Postsecondary Education, November, 2008. www.postseccondary.org. |
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Deb Insel and Brenda Harvey
Co-Directors |
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