Studies by organizations like the Lumina Foundation increasingly show that students at all age levels understand the importance of going to college, and how a college education will dramatically increase their lifetime earnings and happiness. These studies also show that low income and first generation college students, or students whose parents have never graduated from college, don’t understand the process of getting to college. For many of these individuals, the only experiences they have with college students are athletes, and they incorrectly believe that someone will knock on their door one day with both a letter of admission to a university and the academic scholarship to make college affordable.

What can you do to help these students? Become an advocate for higher education! You might be a parent, a guidance counselor, a teacher, a mentor, an aunt or an uncle, or a concerned adult who knows a young person and wants to help open doors to a future with a college education. It doesn’t matter whether you have been to college or not; you can have a positive impact on a student’s life by helping them understand the college search process. In fact, first generation college students, again and again, tell that their journey to a degree began with one person inspiring them to go to college: a teacher, a grandparent, a coach or a family friend. These mentors helped the students understand that going to college was possible, gave them some direction on how to get there, and the students did the rest. So where to start?

Just like teachers, you can play an important role in a young person’s future

Academics
Be an Advocate Tip #1: Tell students to push themselves to take challenging classes
Studies show that students understand that earning good grades is very important in getting into college, but that they don’t understand what courses they need to take. The simple fact is that the more rigorous curriculum a student takes, the better prepared for college they will be, and the better prepared for work they will be if they choose to go directly into the work force. Decisions that students make as early as middle school can have an impact on whether or not they are academically prepared for college. Here are some important recommendations: If the student has the option of taking Algebra I and/or a foreign language in the 8th grade, encourage them to do so. This will allow them to take the highest-level math available in high school. The minimum number of courses students should take in high school include:
• 4 years of college prep English
• 4 years of college prep Math, through pre-Calculus or Calculus
• 3 years of college prep science (with a lab) including: Biology, Chemistry and Physics. 4 years are preferred.
• 3 years of the same foreign language (4 years preferred.)
• 3 years of social sciences
• 1 year of visual or performing arts

Students taking this rigorous curriculum will be better prepared for college or work. Students should also take the highest-level courses in which they can succeed, including Honors, or AP and IB, if available.

The College Search
Be an Advocate Tip # 2: Help students find the college that is the right fit
Studies also show that students don’t understand the process of searching for a college. A good mentor can point them in the right direction early enough to make a huge difference. Perhaps the single most common problem low income and first generation students have is that they wait until their senior year of high school to begin looking for a college. Students can start their search online by identifying schools that offer the right academic programs and meet other needs, like size of student body, distance from home and cost, by using a number of college search engines. A few examples can be found at: http://www.collegenet.com, http://www.act.org and http://www.collegeboard.com. Students should begin as early as possible, even in 9th or 10th grade. Although many colleges, including community colleges and open admission four year colleges, don’t require ACT or SAT scores for admission, more selective schools usually do, and students should plan to test as early as possible so they have the option of testing a second time. Test scores usually improve on subsequent tests because the student becomes more comfortable with the testing format. Also, students can prepare for the test with free resources offered on the websites of both testing organizations. Both organizations offer test fee waivers to low-income students.

Guidance Counselors
Be an Advocate Tip #3: Help students find information
Many students have said they wouldn’t think of going to see their high school counselors because they associate counselors with being in trouble. High school counselors are often excellent sources of information about the college search process, financial aid and deadlines. Additionally, many communities have college access programs that provide additional college process guidance (and scholarships!) to students in the community. Be sure to encourage your student to check out these valuable resources. The Ohio State Access website (http://www.osu.edu/access/) has tips and recordings that may help students and advocates understand the process.

Deadlines
Be an Advocate Tip #4: Help students meet deadlines for both admissions and financial aid
Perhaps the number one challenge low income and first generation students face is missing application and financial aid deadlines. Every college has its own application, scholarship and financial aid deadlines, and because of the numbers of students applying, often can’t help students who miss deadlines. Please encourage your students to make a college search calendar, and to list all of the appropriate deadlines for any schools in which they have interest, so they can be sure they will not miss anything important. See the college search timeline that accompanies this article for more information.