College Summit is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of low-income youth by connecting them to college and career. In high schools across the nation, College Summit trains and deploys teams of influential juniors and seniors to drive key actions by classmates that will improve postsecondary enrollment and success and create a college-going culture for their entire school. This team of students - Peer Leaders - provide high schools with the additional capacity they need to ensure that all students achieve their college and career aspirations.
Over two decades, College Summit's one-of-a-kind youth-driven college access service has placed more than 350,000 students from 500 high schools on the path to college and career success. Partner schools have experienced increases in college enrollment rates up to 20% and college persistence rates equal to the national average for students of all income levels.
History
In 1996, Keith Frome Ed.D, J.B. Schramm and Derek Canty started a teen education center in the basement of a low-income housing project in Washington, D.C., working with students who had the intelligence, resiliency, and grit to succeed in college and careers. Through this program, they saw firsthand how the influence of one student could push friends on the path to a higher education. They founded College Summit by answering a simple, yet important question: "Who is the most influential person to a 17-year-old?" The answer: "Another 17-year old." From that modest experience and critical insight, College Summit has grown over the past two decades into a national movement harnessing the power of peer influence to transform the lives of low-income youth.
In 2015, College Summit launched PeerForward, an initiative built on decades of experience as well as third-party research about what really works in schools. In the 2017-18 school year, 114 teams of influential 11th- and 12th-graders trained by College Summit mobilize to impact the lives of 110,000 of their classmates and peers. The goal for the next decade is for PeerForward to help 1.8 million students from 1,000 schools across the nation unleash their potential. A Stanford Social Innovation Review essay, “Cutting Costs to Increase Impact†analyzed this innovative approach to achieving scale.
Founders
Since its founding, Frome, Schramm and Canty have remained actively involved with College Summit. In 2015, Keith Frome became College Summit's second-only CEO with a vision to scale the organization's impact on college access and success by leveraging the power of student-driven change. Prior to his appointment as CEO of College Summit, Frome designed and then led the King Center Charter School, an innovative K-8 on the east side of Buffalo, NY, successfully creating a college-going culture among that city's at-risk elementary and middle school students. Earlier, he served as Headmaster of the Elmwood Franklin School in Buffalo and Assistant Headmaster of the Browning School in New York City. J.B. Schramm currently chairs the Learn to Earn initiative at New Profit, a venture philanthropy and social innovation organization that provides funding and strategic support to help the most promising social enterprises achieve scale. College Summit is a longtime coalition member of New Profit, and an integral part of their grant portfolio. Derek Canty is also founder of Winning Edge, Inc., a Las Vegas-based company that helps individuals, colleges and nonprofit organizations achieve maximum personal and organizational effectiveness. In addition to providing ongoing training and coaching to College Summit staff, students and schools, he also played an integral role in the pilot program of PeerForward, College Summit's signature initiative.
Approach
College Summit's program is unique in harnessing the power of student-driven change to boost college access and career readiness. Peer Leader teams, supported by educators, College Summit staff, technology tools and other online resources, lead successful campaigns proven to increase college enrollment across the entire school.
- Picking Influencers: College Summit helps its school partners identify four incoming juniors and four incoming seniors per school. These are the influencers - College Summit Peer Leaders. Not necessarily high achievers or star athletes, these teens have the respect of their classmates. They are proven to be the most effective change agents driving college enrollment and success.
- Training for Impact: The incoming 12th grade Peer Leaders gather at college campuses for four-day summer workshops to understand the practical and emotional aspects of the college application process, as well as to learn mobilizing activities they can employ to help their classmates. The intensive experiences and practical hands-on trainings solidify their capacity to influence networks of fellow students. A teacher sponsor receives training and professional development alongside their students.
- Achieving Benchmarks: Back in their schools, the junior and senior Peer Leaders drive three campaigns most predictive of college enrollment and success.
- Applying to three or more colleges - Simply applying to more than three colleges measurably increases the chances of enrollment. Increasing the number of college applications submitted from two to three can raise a student's probability of enrollment by 10%.
- Early filing for financial aid - The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is required for need-based financial assistance, yet 2.2 million low-income students never file. Low-income FAFSA filers are more than twice as likely to persist as non-filers and timely filing can double a student's grant funding.
- Connecting academics to college and career - First generation students often don't connect academic excellence to specific life goals. Our career exploration initiative opens their eyes. Research shows that a student who makes a connection between college and his or her life goals is six times more likely to attain a degree than one who doesn't.
Geographic Reach
College Summit works with some of the largest school districts in America, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, St. Louis and Prince George's County, MD. This scope allows partner schools to benefit from the best practices and success stories from across the United States.
Board of directors
College Summit's Board of Directors comprises:
- Owen Ryan (Chair), Chief Executive Officer and President, AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc.
- Boris Bershteyn, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
- Billy Butcher, Co-Head of Real Estate Acquisitions, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co.
- John Deasy, CEO, Reset, New Day, New Year
- Anthony Ekmekjian, Founder, BASE Equity Partners
- Janiece Evans-Page, Sr. Director, Global Giving Fossil Group, Fossil Group
- Dean Furbush, Chief Executive Officer, ScrollMotion
- Alan Ghelberg, Principal, General Atlantic
- Julie Mork, Director, ECA Foundation
- Ashlee Neal, Employment and Infrastructure Specialist, City of New Orleans
- Steve Sacks, Chief Customer Officer, Burberry Group Plc
- Laura Samberg, Executive Director, The Samberg Family Foundation
- J.B. Schramm, Founder, College Summit; Chair, Learn to Earn Initiative, New Profit, Inc
- Irvin Scott, Deputy Director, Education, US Program, College Ready, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Ramsey Walker, Vice President, Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Philanthropy
College Summit's list of supporters includes foundations, individuals, corporations, and public and investor categories. College Summit partners with funders at both national and local levels to support the PeerForward model. Philanthropic partnerships can take on many different forms, including restricted support that funds Peer Forward in certain regions/schools, to more broad support that funds PeerForward and the peer to peer movement in general. Other partnerships include in-kind support via volunteering with Peer Leaders and hosting PeerForward training camps. Some of College Summit’s most generous partners include Deloitte, Capital One, Venture Philanthropy Partners, Fossil Foundation, FedEx, The Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller Foundation, The Samberg Family Foundation, and Kapnick Foundation Trust.
Awards & Accolades
- In 2010, College Summit was one of 10 organizations selected by President Barack Obama for a portion of his Nobel Peace Prize Award.
- In the same year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recognized College Summit, along with Deloitte & Touche LLP, as the nation's top corporate-nonprofit partnership.
- In 2008, College Summit Co-Founder J.B. Schramm was awarded U.S. Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the World Economic Forum, and was among the top social entrepreneurs of the world in Forbes Magazine's "The Impact 30."
- College Summit received The National Association for College Admission Counseling's (NACAC) highest award for improving college access.
- Ashoka, Manhattan Institute, and the Skoll Foundation have each honored College Summit with awards for social enterprise.
- Fast Company also awarded College Summit with five consecutive Social Capitalist Awards.
References
External links
- College Summit. (2006â€"2017). Retrieved from http://www.collegesummit.org/
- New Profit Inc. (2013). Retrieved from http://newprofit.com/cgi-bin/iowa/do/invest/12.html
- America Forward. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.americaforward.org/blog/america-forwards-esea-update-exciting-new-change-to-school-report-cards
- We Are. PeerForward. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cL7DsbqT2I
- Helping 1.8 Million Students to PeerForward. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL8l1F65jAc
- Give at College Summit. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJNO0RIflFk
- College Board Advocacy & Policy Center. (2011). "Research Brief: Can Applying to More Colleges Increase Enrollment Rates?". Retrieved from http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/nosca/research-brief-applying-colleges-increase-enrollment.pdf
- Consortium on Chicago School Research. (2008). "From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College". Retrieved from https://consortium.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/publications/CCSR_Potholes_Report.pdf
- Bridgespan Report. (2006). "Reclaiming the American Dream". Retrieved from http://bspan.org/1WyZ0is
In the news
- Stanford Social Innovation Review (2017). "Cutting Costs to Increase Impact"
- Chronicle of Philanthropy (2015). "Education Charity Sees Cost-Cutting, Not Fundraising, as Key to Growth."
- Chronicle of Philanthropy (2015). "A Checklist for Developing a New Business Model for Your Nonprofit."
- Yahoo Parenting (2015). "Cars and Cash: Why Access to Both Can Make or Break a Student’s Success at College."
- Take Part (2015). "Why Peer Pressure Is the Key to Getting Low-Income Kids on the College Track."
- Miami Herald (2015). "Giving students formula to succeed."
- Tulsa World (2015). "Growing Together Showcases its work at Rogers High School."
- New York Daily News (2015). "The Crisis Behind Scalia's Race Remark."
- WNPR (2015). "New Haven Schools Increase College Attendance Through Peer Mentors."
- WABC Radio (2015). "The Sunday Cafe with Laura Smith."
- Education Week (2014). "Students Teach School Counselors to Use College Access Apps."
- ABC7 WJLA (2011). "College Summit gives students the tools to get into college."