College Now Advisors Trained to Help Students Eliminate Financial Aid Hurdles
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2017 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY CROSSING THE FINISH LINE MISSION LETTER FROM THE College Now’s mission is to increase college attainment in Greater Cleveland through college and career access advising, financial aid counseling and scholarship and retention services. BOARD CHAIR AND CEO Dear Friends: FINANCIAL STABILITY ing Re ing Exp oday, simply having “some college” is not enough to secure a financially stable career erat venu erat ens p Special Eve e p e path. More jobs than ever are requiring some form of postsecondary degree, whether O nts s O s $3 19 it be a postsecondary credential or a two- or four-year degree. According to MIT’s Living ,6 S T F 1 cho Wage Calculator, a living wage (the cost of supporting one adult and one child) in 2016 o 3 la or un a rs f d nd hi G was $21 per hour. Without a degree, an employee cannot reach that living wage, and the ee ce a Ret p e F rvi t en n e 4 i t e earnings gap between those with a degree and those without is growing rapidly. According S ,30 o 5 Serv io 9 0 n 1 i n r 6 s ce a 3 9 ,0 s l $1,2 to data gathered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2015, individuals age 25 and over with 8 $ 1 A , $ 4 8 6 ,3 3 3 8 d a bachelor’s degree earned, on average, $1,137 per week, compared to the $678 per week 9 7 3 9 m , , 8 5 9 , 5 4 i 3 $ 8 n earned by those with just a high school diploma, which, at $16.95 per hour, is less than the , 9 $ i , 7 s 6 s t living wage. 0 7 r e s 0 a 4 t c , i t n 3 i v Despite the increased need for degrees and credentials, navigating the pathways to them o a r $ r n e S remains challenging for many students. Now more than ever, traditional and non-traditional G s t $ g d n 4 learners need College Now’s services as they seek to obtain the education required to fill the n r i e 4 s a i 2 m open jobs in Northeast Ohio. v w , n 0 d r A 7 A e 1 4 Although they have different circumstances based on age and life experience, high school v 6 ip o 3 I , s h G 2 students and adult learners receive similar supports from College Now – they need advice n 4 n rs d $1,8 tio a iv ra ol on financial aid; help completing college applications; guidance on selecting the id orpo ch ua C S best-fit postsecondary program; mentors who can walk them through the challenges ls Total Operating Revenue: $11,034,160 $ F they may face on campus; and academic and social supports. College Now’s services 468 un ,369 Total Operating Expense: $10,997,069 dra ,698 continue to expand to ensure that every student who needs support is able to get it, when ising $564 they need it most. for the Fiscal Year Ending July 31, 2016 This year, we have more than 60 advisors and AmeriCorps College Guides in high schools in Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina and Summit Counties. We have placed 10 new AmeriCorps Career Coaches in five Cleveland Metropolitan School District career academies COLLEGE NOW AT A GLANCE 2015-2016 ACADEMIC YEAR to ensure freshmen and sophomore students are introduced to postsecondary educational % paths that will lead them to the region’s in-demand careers early in high school. We have 27,000 1,500 60 bolstered our work with adults to ensure that they receive specialized guidance to meet them Number of individuals served by High school graduates and adult Average graduation rate for College where they are in their postsecondary journey, and we have assisted graduates with federal College Now learners who received College Now scholarship recipients compared student loan debt to save them an estimated $46 million since the inception of our Now scholarships to the 18 - 26% national average student loan forgiveness work in 2013. $150 Million for students from low-income $ backgrounds But our work is not done. As economic demands change, and the cost of postsecondary Amount of financial aid the more 2,410 education increases, delivering our services to those in Northeast Ohio has become more than 10,000 current college students Average College Now renewable important than ever. Crossing the finish line is our goal – for all the students we serve – and served by College Now have received scholarship award 1,200 we could not help them overcome the obstacles they face in achieving that goal without you, Number of community members our funders and partners. We are grateful for the support you provide to College Now – thank $68 Million $11.6 Million volunteering as mentors for you for all you do to help students of all ages cross the finish line. Scholarship dollars awarded to Operating budget for College Now, College Now scholarship recipients Sincerely, Greater Cleveland students since including 104 employees inception 175 $3.2 Million Venues in Northeast Ohio where $70,000 Total amount of College Now College Now provides its services A $500 investment in College scholarships awarded Now advising services results in $46 Million an average of $70,000 in financial 94% Total estimated amount saved by aid awarded per student over First- to second-year average 617 individuals who received College Alan S. Kopit Lee A. Friedman four years of college Now’s student loan restructuring Chair, Board of Directors Chief Executive Officer retention rate among traditional scholarship recipients services over the last three years College Now Greater Cleveland 1 2016-2017 Annual Report COLLEGE NOW’S ADULT PROGRAMS AND SERVICES EXPAND AS DEMAND FOR EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT INCREASES ortheast Ohio has a critical need for skilled came into the Resource Center and/or received our Adult workers. A gap continues to grow between the Learner Scholarship. While effective, we realized that Nskills necessary to fill open jobs and the skills that this approach was not enough to make a meaningful individuals possess, causing the number of unemployed to dent in the educational attainment gap. Now with more outpace the number of open jobs in the region. By 2020, manpower, our Adult Program Specialists reach individuals 64 percent of Ohio jobs will require a postsecondary in the community through partnerships with community credential,1 but only 38 percent of Cuyahoga County organizations, employer connections and resource fairs, adults (ages 25+) have this level of education,2 leaving a enabling adults to receive support where they are as they 26 percent gap. Currently ranking 37th in educational navigate the postsecondary process. 3 attainment, Ohio has significant ground to make up College Now offers services not only in college access to ensure that job-seeking adults have the credentials and career advising, but also in financial aid counseling, necessary to participate in the region’s workforce. Nearly scholarship services and student loan debt counseling. 440,000 adults (ages 25+) in Cuyahoga County are During the 2015-2016 school year, College Now served eligible to start or continue their postsecondary education; over 1,300 individual clients with these services - and 192,290 of these adults have some college, but no degree, we are on track to double that number in 2016-2017. and 247,342 have a high school diploma or equivalency.4 Cuyahoga County adults with a high school diploma HELPING ADULTS MANAGE STUDENT or some college, but no degree, are a critical piece of LOAN DEBT Cuyahoga County adults with a the educational attainment puzzle. To keep up with Just like traditional students, most adult learners changes in the workforce, our region’s adults need face the difficult task of paying back loans that they high school diploma or some college, to continue their education and job training. borrowed to finance their education. College Now has To meet this community need, College Now has built our Student Loan Rescue program over the past but no degree, are a critical piece of the strategically invested in expanding our adult learner work. few years, which provides graduates with individualized Last fiscal year, we grew our adult learner department counseling to determine which payment plan and/or from a team of 1.5 full-time equivalents to a standalone consolidation options make the most financial sense for educational attainment puzzle. department of five. These five uniquely trained advisors, their unique situations. plus one full-time AmeriCorps member, work proactively Local employers, like government agencies, school districts in our Resource Center and out in the community to and nonprofit organizations, have found our Student support adults as they decide what the appropriate and Loan Rescue program to be an enormous added benefit economically feasible next steps in their education may that they can offer to their employees. Since College Now be. For adults, more so than for traditional students, it is a began offering the Student Loan Rescue program in 2013, marathon, not a sprint, to college completion. College Now has saved 617 employees from seven different area organizations more than $46 million FINDING ADULT LEARNERS in anticipated federal student loan repayments. Setting out to find adult learners is a challenge, which is Now, more than ever, adults need support to pursue why our newly-expanded Adult Programs and Services and/or complete a postsecondary credential. College team has changed its approach. Previously, our primary Now’s expanded Adult Programs and Services team is method of serving adults was to work with those who equipped to help them cross the finish line to completion.