WHAT IS STRIVE?

Strive for College is an innovative college mentoring program that connects motivated, low-income high school students with undergraduate mentors, who guide them through the college application process and into enrollment at four-year universities and colleges, providing them with opportunities and resources to break the cycle of poverty forever.

FEATURED FACT

Every year, more than 200,000 low-income students graduate from high school in America ready to go to college – but do not.

Source Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, Empty Promises: The Myth of College Access in America, Washington, D.C., 2002

Our Advantages

COLLABORATIVE - The Collaborative wishes to be a part of building a national community of educators and non-profits with shared purpose and vision. Each chapter will be encouraged to find and work with educational organizations operating in their areas. By partnering with other college access organizations and education initiatives, Strive for College chapters will have the maximum possible impact on their students while also building stronger communities.

COST EFFECTIVE - Strive for College Collaborative is an extremely cost-efficient non-profit model, thanks to the dedication of volunteer undergraduate mentors, a streamlined curriculum designed with the guidance and advice of professionals and experts, as well as pro-bono work by our Board of Advisors and various accounting, law and consulting services. Because the program operates from college and university campuses, there is very little cost associated with each chapter, as most operating expenses are paid with student activity funds. The Strive for College program is replicable at a national scale without prohibitive operational cost.

REPLICABLE - While various types of college mentoring and advising programs currently exist at some universities, there has never before been a standardized model that can be easily replicated at hundreds of institutions across the country, while also being tailored and adapted to best suit the needs of each community it serves. Because each chapter operates through a university or college, Strive for College achieves geographic specificity in a way no other college counseling program can.

STUDENT-TO-STUDENT - Strive for College harnesses the immense power of student-to-student relationships, which can foster extraordinary motivation and self-confidence. Mentors develop long-lasting relationships with the students they counsel, and gain valuable, meaningful experience that helps make them life-long participants in community service - and our students gain powerful role models whose lessons will stay with them forever.

SUSTAINABLE - It is sometimes suggested that students are not reliable enough to make a national program sustainable. By integrating the program as part of campus life at each chapter, however, Strive for College ensures that chapters will not deteriorate as the first class of leaders graduates. While student mentors are not professionals, finding a dedicated, passionate group of mentors and implementing a viral marketing program will ensure a constant flow of students to power each chapter. By establishing a positive reputation on college campuses and fostering lasting relationships, service organizations can achieve longevity and maintain a low turnover rate for student volunteers. Mentors with a personal stake in the future of their students are less likely to abandon the program, and are more likely to recommend the organization to their friends based on their positive experiences.