CAP College Champions

Wildfire relief

San Gabriel Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

College Access Plan (CAP) prepares underserved students to succeed in college, as data shows that bachelor’s degree attainment is the best path out of poverty. We believe a post-secondary education is achievable for all students, including those who are eliminated from other college programs due to attendance issues, grades, immigration status, or other factors. Dr. Jessica Cobb (CAP Board member) states: “Though the proportion of first-generation, racial-ethnic minority, and low-income students graduating four-year college is increasing, these student populations are still at a distinct disadvantage in comparison to their peers. Many school personnel work valiantly to connect underserved students to post-secondary pathways, but sociologists show that these students often feel marginalized due to more systemic forms of exclusion. Though these students may have interest in attending college, they often lack the information and institutional connections to realize their own initiative.”

Funding will help CAP expand one of our most successful initiatives, College Champions (CC), extending the reach of peer counselors/promotores to more than 600 high school students. CAP’s hometown of Pasadena/Altadena was recently ravaged by the Eaton Fire, and we need to expand our efforts to ensure all PUSD students receive the college readiness support they need in this time of incredible uncertainty and loss.
College Champions is a youth leadership program for low-income students who are first-generation, undocumented, and/or BIPOC. The program aims to:
Provide a peer support system and early start in the application process for student populations least likely to attend college.
Empower students to enter the college process as confident leaders by serving as a reliable resource within school communities.
Provide CAP drop-in attendees with peer mentors who face similar challenges and reflect the diversity of the student body.
Develop student leaders who are trauma informed and trained in both key program services and broader policy and advocacy around educational access.
College Champions’ secondary benefits are to create greater capacity for CAP to promote opportunities to the student body and to increase CAP’s capacity to provide individualized attention during drop-in sessions. College Champions are providing critical peer support in a time when trauma has impacted students’ ability to remain future-focused, including on their college plans.

CAP aims to improve college-going and college completion rates for an entire population of students in all of its diversity in terms of race, class, and academic ability.
A comparative evaluation of CAP’s impact on the class of 2023 found that CAP participation for high-achieving low-income students and students of color showed a major increase in four-year college attendance rates of 27 and 24 percentage points, respectively. Also, year-over-year, CAP students persist in college at higher rates than their peers.
2024 data from the US Department of Labor shows that median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders are $1.2 million higher over their lifetime. Increasing the number of college graduates increases civic engagement, as college graduates are twice as likely to volunteer in the community as high school diploma holders, and 50% more likely to vote. Improving the college-going outcomes and college completion rates of today’s youth will have lasting impacts throughout LA County.