THE CHALLENGE

In the neighborhoods we serve, only 13% of adults have earned a bachelor's degree. Adults without a college degree are more likely to be unemployed and live below the poverty line.

Many BGCP students want to go to college, but don’t know where to start. First generation college students, such as those served by BGCP, often lack access to the support needed to navigate the complex college application, financing, and enrollment process. 

What often stands between our students and college success is access to caring, long-term, family-based college counseling that is attuned to the unique cultural characteristics of low-income and first-generation college students. 

THE SOLUTION

Future Grads equips low-income students with the skills, coaching, and peer support they need to become first generation graduates of four-year colleges. The program begins in the summer before 10th grade through college graduation.

Participation in Future Grads starts with The Future Grads Summer Academy, a fun and interactive, week-long experience designed to introduce students to the value of a college education and build life skills that will support their success in high school, college, and beyond. Meanwhile, parents learn about financial resources to help pay for college. These lessons are fortified throughout the students’ high school careers. In monthly lunch and after school meetings, students build peer and staff relationships and develop a college-going mindset. Meanwhile, their parents receive education and support through workshops that address concerns. Once in college, Future Grads students continue to receive individualized coaching through graduation.

Future Grads is modeled after Bright Prospect’s college access program that began in 2002. Click here to read an article in Gentry Magazine about the program.