YMCA to Adopt, Expand National College Access Program
This article comes courtesy of Philanthropy News Digest and a Lumina Foundation Press Release.
“YMCA of the USA to Expand College Access Program for Underserved Populations.”
The YMCA of the USA has announced a three-year grant of more than $5 million from the Lumina Foundation of Education to integrate an existing initiative that promotes college access for underserved youth into national programming offered by the nearly 2,700 YMCAs in the country.
Created in 1989, College Goal Sunday is a national, volunteer-driven program designed to help students from low-income, underserved, and non-traditional backgrounds increase their chances of enrolling in college. At program events, which typically are held within two weeks of the Super Bowl, families receive information about the federal aid process and individual assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and other financial aid forms.
College Goal Sunday currently reaches more than thirty-five thousand prospective college students in thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia. For several years, it has been administered by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which will remain a program partner.
“Research has shown that both the high cost of college and the complexity of the application process serve as real barriers to college attendance for many low-income families and students,” said Lumina Foundation president and CEO Jamie Merisotis. “College Goal Sunday and its vast network of volunteers take the mystery out of the financial aid application process and help students with the greatest need understand that a college education is achievable.”
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