College Summit Comes to North Central Montana

Leading college access group selects two Montana high schools for pilot project

Ten North Central Montana high school students will attend a College Summit Workshop hosted by the University of Denver in July where they will receive intensive training on navigating college admissions and supporting their peers through the same process.

College Summit is an award-winning national nonprofit organization working to increase the college enrollment rate of low-income students. Its model works in three ways: finding and training influential students on the college application process; providing schools with a structured way to guide students through post-high school planning (includes teacher training, year-long curriculum and web-based tools) and connecting colleges with a pool of diverse, talented students they seek to enroll.

Leveraging the experience of the 10 workshop participants, 40 additional seniors from Havre and Glasgow High Schools will receive the tools and structural support needed to effectively make the transition from high school to college during the 2006-2007 school year.

College Summit introduced its model to Montana delegates during its 2005 National Conference in Chicago. In 2006, Kelly Chapman, Student Assistance Foundation vice president of foundation activities, Montana Board of Regents member Lynn Hamilton and Dr. Kirk Miller, Havre school superintendent and chairman of the State Board of Public Education assembled a group of 30 Hi-Line education professionals to discuss strategies to increase the college enrollment rate in Montana. Following the meeting, the coalition submitted a formal proposal to bring the College Summit model to North Central Montana. The proposal won Montana the opportunity to become the only College Summit National Pilot site for the 2006-2007 academic year.

Although Montana students graduate high school at a high percentage, the majority do not move on to higher education. On average, of a group of 100 Montana ninth graders, 36 will be immediately lost in the transition from high school to college, 58 will never go to college and 26 who enroll in college will not finish. Only 16 of 100 Montana ninth graders will go on to graduate from college, one of the lowest rates nationally.

Since 1993, College Summit has served over 10,000 students across the country. College Summit workshop participants enroll in college at a rate of 79% – nearly double the national rate of 46% for students from the same income bracket. In addition, 80% of these students stay in college.

Funding for the pilot project is provided by Student Assistance Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Helena that provides students with the knowledge and tools to finance and pursue their postsecondary education.

For more information on College Summit (www.collegesummit.org) and its college enrollment efforts in Montana, contact Ivan Barron at (202) 319-1763, extension 288, or via email at [email protected].