ACCESS to Join New College Completion Initiative 

July 7, 2009 - In response to last year’s troubling report that found only 35.5% of the Boston Public Schools Class of 2000 graduated from college within seven years, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, The Boston Foundation and the Boston Public Schools have joined in an effort to increase the college success rate of Boston students through a new college completion initiative called Success Boston. This new initiative has recruited ACCESS, along with several other area nonprofits, join together to provide students with comprehensive assistance and guidance throughout their college career.

By bringing together the resources and expertise of various college access and success programs throughout the city, the initiative aims to increase college readiness and provide students with a multitude of support, coaching and guidance to ensure college graduation.  Beginning this summer, Success Boston will serve approximately 250 graduates from the Class of 2009 and follow them throughout their years in college.  ACCESS will provide financial aid advising and planning support to the students and their families as well as coordinate with participating organizations to plan special gatherings for, and collect data from, the students.

This summer ACCESS will host several financial aid workshops for graduating high school seniors in an effort to build a broader understanding of the financial aid process among students and families. These sessions will be followed later in the summer with one on one meetings with each student to make sure that students are well informed of everything that goes into starting school off on the right foot financially, such as promissory note issues, finding a work study job, payment plans and savings. These workshops are open to the general public and we invite you to come and learn more about the college financial aid process! Click here to view a calendar of this summer’s events.

Additional participating nonprofits in Success Boston include: TERI, Freedom House, the Boston Private Industry Council, Bottom Line and the Hyde Square Task Force.