A BluePrint for Success: Case Studies of Successful - Educational ...

A Blueprint for Success
resourced public schools that lacked sufficient college preparation tools. In 1997, College Track
started with a cohort of 25 East Palo Alto students at one high school in the Sequoia Union High
School District. Today, College Track supports more than 1,000 high school and college students in
East Palo Alto, Oakland, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Aurora, Colorado. In addition, plans are
underway for a new site to open in Los Angeles in the fall of 2012.
College Track serves low-income, ethnically-diverse students who reflect the communities in which
they live and who are drastically underrepresented at colleges and universities across the country.
Forty-two percent of College Track students are African American, 37 percent are Latino, 12 percent
are Asian, and 10 percent are either multi-racial or “Other.” Ninety percent of students are from
low-income households and 85 percent will be the first in their families to graduate from college.
Goals
The overarching goals of College Track are to increase high school graduation, college eligibility and
enrollment, and college graduation rates among low-income, under-resourced high school students.
College Track expects that at least 75 percent of the students who go through the program will
graduate from college.
To achieve this, CT has the following goals:
100 percent of seniors will graduate from high school and be admitted to a four-year college
90 percent of seniors will enroll in a four-year college
75 percent of CT college students will graduate within six years of entering college
Admission & Selection
Students typically apply and enroll in College Track by the end of 8th grade. Students must complete
an application, provide two letters of recommendation, submit the middle school transcript,
and submit a signed parent/guardian consent form. CT looks for students with a mix of academic
scores and strengths. To be eligible, students must be: first generation to attend college; low income;
motivated to attend college; and, members of underserved minority populations. The second stage of
the admissions process includes an interview and participation in a group activity where applicants
are observed.
Every year, CT interviews approximately 70-100 students, of which 50-60 are accepted. The goal is
to have approximately 50 students per grade, or about 200 per site. The program retention rates
have increased over the years from around 50 percent for the earlier cohorts since the beginning of
the program to 75 percent in 2010. According to CT’s Executive Officer of Programs, Geraldine
Sonobe, due to attrition in 10th grade, the program accepts more than 50 freshman and “refreshes”
the student headcount in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades as needed to ensure that the maximum
number of students are served and that the program runs at capacity. Attrition in the first two years
Educational Policy Institute 52 www.educationalpolicy.org