Advising Corps Helps 4,110 Apply to College
Posted on April 30, 2014More than 4,000 high school seniors submitted 11,000 applications to colleges for the 2014-15 school year through the Carolina College Advising Corps, which provides in-depth admissions and financial aid advising to students in 55 high schools throughout North Carolina.
To celebrate those future college students, the corps is holding special events in partner schools on or around May 1 — the date known as Decision Day and the universal college enrollment deadline in the U.S.
Funded by grants and private gifts and based in UNC’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the 31 advisers work to help low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students find their way to colleges that will serve them well.
“Our advisers give hard-working students the extra help they need to go to college,” said Yolanda Keith ’08, program coordinator for the Carolina Corps. “Their service is tailored to what each student needs the most, which may be as simple as helping them fill out applications and as complicated as helping them understand financial aid practices. But the most important thing they do is to let students know that someone believes in them.”
The 4,110 students at corps high schools who applied to college this year have been admitted to a variety of postsecondary schools ranging from local community colleges to four-year universities including UNC, N.C. State and Spellman. The students include a Morehead-Cain Scholar, a Gates Millennium Scholar and several National Merit Scholars.
“The advisers do far more than help our students apply for college,” said Candis Hagaman, principal at Caldwell Early College High School. “They help our students chart out a path for a successful life beyond high school and give them the means to come back and improve our community. In this way, each adviser helps far more than just one student.”
At Decision Day, students will attend a variety of celebratory activities ranging from special breakfasts to pep rallies to ice cream socials with musical performances and special speakers. Until the last day of class, advisers also will continue to counsel students about the steps after admission — helping them understand the enrollment requirements of the colleges they have chosen and what they need to know to succeed once college begins.
By providing advisers who are close in age and circumstance to the students they serve, the Carolina Corps aims to increase college-going rates at partner high schools across North Carolina. The advisers work in partnership with teachers, counselors and administrators. Partner schools have shown college enrollment rates at 10 percentage points higher than comparative schools and increased scholarship dollars of about $1 million within the first year of partnership.
With support from the John M. Belk Endowment and the College Advising Corps (the Carolina College Advising Corps’ national partner), the Carolina College Advising Corps will welcome 10 additional recent UNC graduates as college advisers for the next three years. That will increase the number of advisers to 42 and the number of low-income high schools they serve to 65.
Carolina College Advising Corps — Partner School Districts and High Schools, 2013-14
Alamance-Burlington
Hugh M. Cummings High School
Graham High School
Bertie County
Bertie High School
Caldwell County
South Caldwell High School
Caldwell Early College High School
West Caldwell High School
Hibriten High School
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
West Charlotte High School
Garinger High School
Harding University High School
Olympic High School (5 schools in 1)
East Mecklenburg High School
Rocky River High School
Vance High School
West Mecklenburg High School
Chatham County
Chatham Central High School
Jordan-Matthews High School
Davidson County
Lexington Senior High School
Durham County
Hillside High School
Southern High School
Edgecombe County
North Edgecombe High School
Tarboro High School
Halifax County
Northwest Halifax High School
Southeast Halifax High School
Guilford County
Ben L. Smith High School
James B. Dudley High School
Hertford County
Hertford County High School
Randolph County
East Randolph High School
Asheboro High School
Robeson County
South Robeson High School
Rockingham County
Rockingham County High School
Reidsville High School
J.M. Morehead High School
Dalton L. McMichael High School
Rowan County
North Rowan High School
Salisbury High School
Scotland County
Scotland High School
Surry County
East Surry High School
Surry Central High School
North Surry High School
Mount Airy High School
Elkin High School
Surry Early College of Design
Thomasville City
Thomasville High School
Warren County
Warren County High School
Warren NewTech High School
Warren Early College High School
Weldon City
Weldon STEM High School
Roanoke Valley Early College High School
More online…
- Grant to Expand Carolina College Advising Corps
May 2008 news report - Young Alumni at Heart of Program to Help Low-Income Students
$10 million national college advising program to be based at UNC
News report from March 2007 - Worth the Wait: Not every Carolina student got the “you’re in” as a high school senior. Many transfers didn’t even seek it. A new collaboration with community colleges aims to find more of those who want, or need, more time. From the March/April 2007 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review.
