Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 1

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact

{ COLLEGE ACCESS FOUNDATION of CALIFORNIA

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 2

A Message from the President

At the College Access Foundation of California, we focus on helping low-income students pursue and

complete a college education. Between 2005 and 2011, the Foundation awarded over $71 million in

grants to college access organizations across the state, supporting over 30,000 scholarships for col-

lege students with financial need.

During that time, we used scholarships as our primary tool for promoting enrollment and graduation

for students from low-income families and communities. For many, scholarships made the difference

between going to college or not, or the difference between attending a four-year university or a com-

munity college.

Most of our scholarship recipients came from low-performing high schools with minimal college prep-

aration and advising. Over 80 percent of our scholarship recipients were the first in their families to

go to college. Approximately three-quarters of these students enrolled in four-year colleges and uni-

versities. Of the students who entered college in 2008, over 80 percent were still in college two

years later.

We take great pride in helping these students go to

college. But despite the success, we also understand

that our focus on scholarships has its limitations.

Compared to public and institutional aid, our Founda-

tion scholarships only cover a fraction of the cost of

college. Moreover, given the Foundation’s resources,

we can only offer scholarships to a small portion of

the state’s growing low-income student population.

California faces a widening college achievement gap at a time when higher education is increasingly

important to securing the state’s economic future. In the face of this challenge, the Foundation has

an important opportunity—and responsibility—to maximize its impact and help more students realize a

college education.

The following is an overview of the Foundation’s new strategic direction. It details how we plan to ad-

dress the growing financial needs California’s low-income students currently face. We look forward to

working with our grantee partners, our colleagues and our friends as we implement this new strategy,

and we welcome your feedback and ideas as we move forward to help more students across the

state.

Julia I. Lopez

President and CEO, College Access Foundation of California

The Foundation has an

important opportunity—and

responsibility—to maximize its

impact and help more students

realize a college education. {

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 3

As the largest economy in the United States,

and the ninth largest economy in the world,

California is a driving force behind the na-

tion’s economic engine. But despite gains in

recent decades, California is not keeping up

with the growing educational demands of its

economy.

{ Evolving to Meet California’s Challenges

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 4

Mirroring trends across the country, California’s economy increasingly depends on a highly-educated

workforce with at least some college education. This rising demand coincides with a growing gap in col-

lege enrollment and completion across the state. Today, California ranks 40th in the nation in the per-

centage of high school graduates who go directly to college.1 It ranks 46th in the percentage of the

state’s college-age population earning bachelor’s degrees.2

Improving college achievement is critical to preserving

our economic future. But despite the need for more

college graduates, California’s low-income students

often lack the information and guidance they need to

overcome the academic, cultural and financial obsta-

cles they face on their path to college success.

Today, half of California’s high school students are

from low-income families, and they increasingly identi-

fy college affordability among their top concerns.

Most of these students attend high schools that lack

access to college and financial aid advising, leaving

many with the perception that college is beyond their

reach. Absent clear guidance and information about

publicly available financial aid such as Pell Grants, Cal

Grants, and Board of Governors Fee Waivers, many

students either do not apply for aid, or they fail to

maximize the financial aid awards for which they

would qualify.3

During the 2009-2010 academic year for example,

hundreds of thousands of eligible California Community College students did not apply for Pell Grants,

leaving up to $500 million in estimated financial aid unclaimed.4 These grants could have helped stu-

dents pay for tuition and fees, textbooks, housing, food, and transportation. Students who fail to maxim-

ize their financial aid have difficulty paying for school and may unduly increase their student debt burden.

They are less likely to earn a degree or transfer to a four-year institution.

In addition to financial aid, low-income college students—especially students who are the first in the fami-

ly to go to school—often lack the support and the know-how they need to navigate the transition from high

school to college. As a result, these students graduate at lower rates than their peers. Providing them

with the support and information they need to access campus services and engage on campus, both aca-

demically and socially, can help keep these students on their path to graduation.5

Guided and informed by our experience, we are eager to engage our grantee partners in new efforts that

reach beyond our scholarship recipients to offer financial aid information and college completion support

to more low-income students across California. Together, we can address these issues and significantly

increase post-secondary achievement for students who might not otherwise consider college.

California’s Growing

Enrollment & Completion Gap

40th in the nation in the percentage

of high school graduates who

go directly to college

46th in percentage of its college-age

population earning bachelor’s

degrees

We are eager to engage our grantee partners in new efforts that reach beyond

our scholarship students and support more low-income populations across

California. {

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 5

Facing a growing number of low-income stu-

dents for whom college degrees remain elu-

sive, the Foundation recently refocused its

grantmaking strategies. These new strategies

emphasize financial aid literacy and post-

enrollment support to increase college access

and success for more students.

{ Broadening Our Grantmaking Strategy

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 6

Making Financial Aid Accessible

Students who understand the financial aid process and access the financial aid that is available to

them are far more likely to attend college and persist through graduation. Unfortunately, low-income

and first-generation college students are often the least likely to have access to this type of infor-

mation.6

To tackle this information gap, the Foundation pursues two strategies. The first focuses on helping

more students submit and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The second

aims to provide more students with access to financial aid advising.

FAFSA Completion

Completing the FAFSA is essential for students to

qualify for public financial aid. But without assis-

tance and support, students and their families are

less likely to invest the time and attention needed

to successfully complete the FAFSA.7

With this in mind, the Foundation funds and sup-

ports organizations working on FAFSA completion

efforts in high schools and school districts with

large low-income student populations. Our strategy

aims to make completing the FAFSA and applying

for financial aid a priority for all high school stu-

dents in California. We believe this will increase

access to college for students who wouldn’t other-

wise be aware of the financial aid available to

them.

Financial Aid Advising

For students who face significant economic barri-

ers on the path to college, financial aid is the key to

affordability. Unfortunately, the under-resourced

schools that many of these students attend do not

offer the counseling and advising they need.8

The Foundation hopes to bridge this gap by provid-

ing funds and support to organizations that can

provide advising services and support to help sig-

nificant numbers of these students obtain financial

aid. Building on the services already offered to stu-

dents who receive Foundation scholarships, this

strategy seeks to extend financial aid services be-

yond the scholarship students we have traditionally

reached.

Financial Aid Strategy

Help More Students

Complete the FAFSA

The Foundation supports

organizations working on

FAFSA completion efforts in

high schools and school

districts with large low-

income student populations.

Financial Aid Strategy

Improve Financial

Aid Advising

The Foundation funds and

supports organizations that

help significant numbers

of low-income students

obtain public financial aid.

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 7

Providing Support to Boost Completion

A striking number of California students who

enroll in college do not graduate. Only half of

the students in the California State University

system graduate in six years.9 In California’s

community colleges, the vast majority of stu-

dents who enroll never complete an associate’s

degree or transfer to a four-year institution.10

The disparities for underrepresented minority

students is even more striking. Only 46 percent

of black students and 53 percent of Latino stu-

dents at California’s four-year institutions gradu-

ate within six years, compared with 62 percent

of white students.11

The Foundation’s third strategy aims to tackle

this issue by supporting and engaging students

on their path to a degree. Low-income college

students—especially students who are the first

in the family to go to college—are more likely to graduate when they have access to support systems

that help guide them through the transition to college life. This support helps them engage aca-

demically and socially on campus, and vastly improves their persistence toward a degree.12

The Foundation seeks to fund efforts that provide low-income college students with this assistance.

We support organizations seeking to implement innovative and collaborative tools, resources, and

programming that bolster services that increase graduation rates among low-income college stu-

dents.

Scholarships

The Foundation remains committed to scholarship grantmaking as a valuable tool for expanding

access and promoting success. We will continue to award scholarship funding for organizations

that align with our new strategies, and we will prioritize our scholarship grants for organizations that

leverage our funding to expand access to financial aid and improve the postsecondary prospects of

all of the students with whom they work.

Where we continue to invest in scholarships, we expect to see increasing rates of college persis-

tence and completion for the students we support.

Completion Strategy

Provide More

Support Services

for College Students

The Foundation funds and

supports efforts that

bolster services to increase

graduation rates among

low-income college students.

The Foundation remains committed to scholarship grantmaking as a valuable

tool for expanding access and promoting success. {

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 8

What We Fund

The Foundation awards grants to organizations that share our commitment to expanding opportunities for

more low-income students, beyond those we have traditionally served with our scholarships. This funding

may be program support, support for new or expanding collaboration efforts, scholarship grants or support

for programs, resources or tools that improve financial aid advising or college completion efforts.

The Outcomes We Expect to See

The Foundation’s strategic shift reflects our firm commitment to narrowing the gap that is keeping a grow-

ing number of low-income Californians out of college. Where we invest to help more students complete

the FAFSA and provide more students with financial aid advising, we expect to reduce the financial barrier

to college access and completion. We anticipate that more of these high school graduates will access all

of the public aid that is available to them and enroll in college.

We believe college access programs across the state are well positioned to provide financial aid advising

and college support resources for the local communities where they work. With our funding, we aim to

support this effort and we hope to create opportunities for low-income students and families to access the

resources they need to go to college. We also hope to see our grantees working with schools and school

districts to prioritize college-going and FAFSA-completion as part of a common mission.

Where the Foundation invests in post-enrollment support services and resources, we expect to gradually

close the gap in graduation rates, so that low-income and historically underrepresented college students

graduate from college at the same rate as their highest achieving peers.

Scholarships

Scholarship Grants

Program Support for Scholarship Programs

FAFSA Completion & Financial Aid Advising

Program Support

Capacity-Building Support

Student Support Toward Completion

Innovative & Collaborative Tools,

Resources & Program Support

What We Fund: Strategies for Reaching More Low-Income Students

Mo

re Stu

den

ts Serv

ed

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 9

Evaluation to Advance Access & Success

As we implement our new strategies, we believe there is great value in testing new ideas and approach-

es and sharing the lessons learned with others who share our same commitment to college access and

completion. Clear and credible information about the impact of our work not only benefits our partner-

ships and programs, it provides evidence for the value of similar public and private investments to im-

prove college achievement statewide.

To learn from these efforts, we remain committed to collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantita-

tive data related to our desired outcomes from the organizations we fund. We hope our analysis will

uncover lessons that regularly inform and improve our effectiveness and the success of our partner-

ships.

We seek measurable improvements in the number of students who access financial aid, attend college

and ultimately graduate. For our scholarship students, we continue to track individual data on academ-

ic progress and use of public financial aid. For the students we reach through our new strategic efforts,

we seek to work with our grantees to find useful data points that accurately reflect our outcomes.

1 Johnson, Hans. “Higher Education in California: New Goals for the Master Plan.” Public Policy Institute of California. 2010. http://

www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_410HJR.pdf.

2 Brown, Michael and Christopher Edley, et al. “California at a Crossroads: Confronting the Looming Threat to Achievement, Access and Equi-

ty at the University of California and Beyond.” 2006. http://berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2006/11/images/Brown_Edley.pdf

3 Kantrowitz, Mark. “Analysis of Why Some Students Do Not Apply for Financial Aid.” 2009. http://www.finaid.org/

educators/20090427CharacteristicsOfNonApplicants.pdf; Long, Bridget Terry. “Breaking the Affordability Barrier: How much of the college

access problem is attributable to lack of information about financial aid?” 2009. http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct1209/

voices1209-btlong.shtml.

4 The Institute for College Access and Success. “Financial Aid Facts at California Community Colleges.” 2010. http://www.ticas.org/files/

pub/ccc_fact_sheet.pdf.

5 Engle, Jennifer, and Vincent Tinto. The Pell Institute. “Moving Beyond Access: College Success for Low-Income, First-Generation Students.”

2008. http://faculty.soe.syr.edu/vtinto/Files/Moving Beyond Access.pdf.

6 Pullias Center for Higher Education at the USC Rossier School of Education. “Putting Money on the Table: Information, Financial Aid and

Access to College.” http://www.uscrossier.org/pullias/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/CHEPA_Putting_Money_on_the_Table.pdf.

7 Bettinger, Eric, Bridget Terry Long, et al. "The Role of Simplification and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAF-

SA Experiment." 2009. http://www.nber.org/papers/w15361; The College Board. “The Financial Aid Challenge: Successful Practices that

Address the Underutilization of Financial Aid in Community Colleges.” 2010. http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/sites/default/

files/10b_1790_FAFSA_Exec_Report_WEB_100517.pdf

8 Burdman, Pamela. "The Student Debt Dilemma: Debt Aversion as a Barrier to College Access." 2005. http://projectonstudentdebt.org/

files/pub/DebtDilemma.pdf.

9 Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy. “Student Flow Analysis: CSU Student Progress Toward Graduation.” 2009. http://

www.csus.edu/ihelp/PDFs/R_CSU_MOA_excerpt.pdf.

10 Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy. “Divided We Fail: Improving Completion and Closing Racial Gaps in California's Com-

munity Colleges.” 2010. http://www.csus.edu/ihelp/PDFs/R_Div_We_Fail_1010.pdf.

11 The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. “Measuring Up 2008: The State Report Card on Higher Education, California.”

2008. http://measuringup2008.highereducation.org/print/state_reports/long/CA.pdf.

12 Engle, Jennifer, and Vincent Tinto. The Pell Institute. “Moving Beyond Access: College Success for Low-Income, First-Generation Students.”

2008. http://faculty.soe.syr.edu/vtinto/Files/Moving Beyond Access.pdf.

To learn more about the College Access Foundation of California or to submit a new grant inquiry, visit

www.col legeaccessfoundat ion.org

Broadening Our Approach & Expanding Our Impact 10

COLLEGE ACCESS FOUNDATION of CALIFORNIA

One Front Street, Suite 1325, San Francisco, CA 94111

www.collegeaccessfoundation.org │ Follow us on Twitter: @CollegeAccessCA

© 2012, College Access Foundation of California

To learn more about the College Access Foundation of California visit

www.col legeaccessfoundat ion.org