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College Counselors Help Charter Grads Stay in College

By Jennifer Mrozowski / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- University Prep High School was founded with a mission to graduate 90 percent of its students and send most to college.
A year and a half after the Detroit charter school graduated its first class, the plan seems to be working -- in a city where just over half the students graduate from high school.
School officials credit financial aid to students and a full-time counselor who tracks their progress.
"With support, urban students can get into college, but few stay in," said Doug Ross, founder of the U Prep schools and CEO of New Urban Learning, the non profit that manages the schools. "The better we get at preparing them, the easier it is for them to stay in and finish."
Of the class of 2007, comprised entirely of African-American students, 83 percent re-enrolled in the same four-year universities as sophomores, while 57 percent re-enrolled in the same two-year colleges -- surpassing national averages.
A 2008 study by ACT showed that nationwide, 73 percent of freshmen re-enroll in the same four-year public colleges, and 54 percent re-enroll in public two-year colleges. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education, analyzed by the Washington D.C.-based Education Trust, show re-enrollment rates for African-American students are significantly lower.
A key component of the students' success is College Success Counselor Chandra Davis-Evans, who visits the grads on their campuses to discuss their grades. She e-mails them regularly, holds forums on financial aid tips and other topics and meets with college officials to discuss strategies to assist the students.
What she's learning about the students' strengths and weaknesses in college is being used to improve the curriculum at the Detroit high school.
University Prep officials, which pledged to graduate 90 percent of high school students and send 90 percent to post-secondary schooling, say tracking students' progress is vital to knowing if the school is meeting its mission. Michigan high schools are required to track college retention rates, and Detroit Public Schools' officials say the district doesn't track those statistics.
Daria Hall, director of K-12 policy at the Education Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the achievement gap between students, said only about half of states are able to match enrollment records between K-12 education and higher education institutions.
Too few high schools track their students' college progress, she said.
"If (college) students are not doing well, we need to find out what the K-12 system can do to better prepare students," she said.
Shannon Junior, 20, who is attending Wayne State University, credits Davis-Evans' visits and counseling with helping him stay in school. While at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill., last year, his grades were slipping. He was homesick and struggling with bills. Davis-Evans sensed he needed a good talking-to, he said.
"I kind of was like 'I don't want her to know how bad I was doing, but she wanted to know," he said.
Over a plate of shrimp alfredo at Red Lobster, which Davis-Evans paid for, Junior told her of his struggles. The college success counselor talked to him about the merits of being at college near home and a support network.
Taking Davis-Evans' advice, Junior transferred and his grades have improved at Wayne State, he said. U Prep also awarded Junior a $1,000 scholarship.
Providing scholarships to graduates, most of whom are low-income, has become central to U Prep's college retention strategy, Ross said.
"We decided we had to get into the scholarship business," he said, adding that most students struggle financially because there is a gap between college tuition and financial aid.
In 2007, U Prep students received $125,000 in scholarships from the school through private fundraising, Ross said. The Thompson Education Foundation, which financed the startup of the school, also provided thousands of additional dollars in scholarships. Even more money was awarded to the class of 2008. Their financial support is contingent on the school continuing to meet its graduation goals.
The school currently has 512 students in high school and 1,620 students in the full system, which includes two elementary and a middle and high school. In 2007, its high school graduation rate was 93 percent, and up to 98 percent last year.
Davis-Evans also makes sure students are on top of filling out financial aid forms.
Henry Ford Community College student Princess Collins, 21, visited Davis-Evans recently after she had trouble logging into the federal financial aid Web site.
"It's good that we can come to her whenever we have questions about college," she said. "She's a good resource."
Tracking college retention rates has given a window into how the students are faring academically, Ross said, which is helping improve the high school curriculum. Officials found U Prep graduates in demanding programs, like the University of Michigan, need more rigorous math and heavier workloads.
The high school has since increased the math courses for students who are struggling. The school also reduced students' participation in unpaid internships to two days a week one trimester a year, instead of every trimester, to allow more time for tougher coursework.
The class of 2008 had to agree to authorize U Prep to see their college grades if they received school scholarships. Future years' scholarship winners might be more dependent on the grades they receive in high school, Davis-Evans said.
Though two $50,000 grants paid for Davis-Evans' position the first two years, Ross said the school is committed to finding a way to fund it permanently. Students like Junior think that's invaluable.
"Ms. Evans is one of the main reasons I'm still in school," Junior said. "She motivates me."


College Counselors Help Charter Grads Stay in College