College Track

In partnership with LA2050, College Track will empower 800+ low-income Angeleno youth to successfully earn bachelor's degrees through year-round holistic support, including hands-on STEAM exploration and workforce development. College Track is creating a more just Los Angeles by catalyzing the talent that exists in the city's most underserved communities, increasing college graduation rates, facilitating socio-economic mobility, and promoting educational and racial justice.

College Track’s Dream LA project empowers students from Boyle Heights and Watts to identify their dreams and passions, and connect those interests in meaningful service to the LA community.

A $100,000 LA2050 grant will provide college scholarship funds to up to 46 i.am College Track Boyle Heights 12th graders graduating from Roosevelt High School this June. Almost all of these students will be the first in their family to graduate from college, and most come from families that are living at or below the federal poverty level. Funding from LA2050 will help make college a reality for these students, and support our efforts to make college an expectation for all students across LA.

College Track (CT) will increase the number of adults with college degrees in Boyle Heights.

In this country, there exists a persistent gap between the academic achievements of low income, predominantly African American and Latino students and their high income, white peers. In California, less than 16% of students of color graduate from high school with the required classes to attend a University of California or California State University campus. On a nation wide scale, only 22% of low-income students earn a bachelors degree within 6 years of high school. Students are not getting the support necessary to navigate the college landscape to college completion. We aim to provide this support. College Track is a national educational non-profit organization working to increase high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation rates among low-income students. Our ultimate goal is to transform communities—like Boyle Heights, where our Los Angeles center is located—into places where all students have the opportunity to graduate from a 4-year university. We do this by opening College Track centers—centrally located in communities demonstrating significant need—where our students receive academic and college readiness support in a learning ‘hub’ environment. Through this work we narrow the achievement gap and build college-going cultures in the neighborhoods where our centers are located. Currently, the organization supports more than 1,400 students at centers in East Palo Alto, Oakland, San Francisco, New Orleans, Aurora, Colorado, and now Los Angeles. College Track strongly believes that if you give motivated students the resources and tools to succeed, they will. College Track was founded by volunteer counselors who discovered that many students were motivated enough, but lacked resources to access college. College Track helps students with their academics, coaches them through the required tests, prepares them for the culture of higher education, supports them through the application process, and mentors them throughout college. These are kids who have the will to succeed, but lack the support to be successful. We provide them with that support, so that they in turn can reach their goals. The student who is accepted into the College Track program receives academic and mentoring support for up to ten years, starting in their freshman year of high school through their college graduation. There is no other program like this in the country. College Track students currently attend more than 75 four-year institutions including Harvard, Stanford, MIT, University of California (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Cruz), Howard University, Spelman College, and Columbia. Programming consists of: Our Academic Summer Advancement Program prepares rising 9th graders for the challenges of high school. Academic Affairs provides comprehensive academic planning, tutoring, monitoring and support. Student Life provides students with opportunities to explore their passions and engage in their communities. College Affairs guides students in all aspects of college admissions and support with scholarships. College Success supports students once they are in college, through advising, financial assistance, and social engagement. Over the course of four years, students receive support equivalent to one extra year of high school. At the suggestion of Mayor Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Deasy, and given the scarcity of educational support in the neighborhood, College Track began an expansion of its services to Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles this school year. The students here deeply need and deserve a safe space with caring and nurturing adults who help them with their high school academics, prepare them for the culture of higher education, support them through the college and scholarship applications, and mentor them all through their college years. College Track is partnering with two of the small schools affiliated with Roosevelt Senior High School in Boyle Heights – The Academy of Medical and Health Sciences, and the Math Science & Technology Magnet Academy. College Track is co-located on the Roosevelt campus for our inaugural year and has plans to expand off site as our program grows. Our first class is comprised of 30 freshmen from each of these Academies, for a total of 60 students. We will continue to grow the center by adding an additional cohort of 60 freshmen a year. By 2015-16, our Boyle Heights center will be fully enrolled with four cohorts of students, totaling roughly 240. College Track strongly believes that neighborhoods and schools must work more effectively together to support the healthy development of youth. College Track and its partners have the opportunity to radically improve the academic and life outcomes for students in Boyle Heights.