Dream for College Project
May 4, 2010 by Rob
Filed under BLOG, Mountain View
Dream for College Project: Inspiring first generation to college 5th graders
On May 20th, Reach Potential Movement will partner with Castro Elementary school in Mountain View, CA to inspire 50 mostly Latino fifth grade students with an up close college experience at Stanford University. Click here if you would like to sponsor a student with a $20 donation. Our project will provide:
- A college field trip to engage students with the journeys of Latino undergrads and alumni from Stanford who’ve overcome cultural and economic challenges to graduate from college.
- A parent education workshop to enlist parents to support for their child’s academic preparation through middle and high school to keep them on a path for college.
- A college T-shirt and a book, Wiley’s Way/El Camino de Wiley, to inspire a college going mentality.
DREAM FOR COLLEGE NEEDS STATEMENT 
In June of 2009, The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) revealed in their report, Educating California: Choices for the Future[1], that Californians are experiencing two significant shifts that will change our state’s social and economic landscape. The first shift is our state’s retiring baby boomers that will be leaving the California workforce in mass between 2010 and 2030. 35% of our state’s 55 to 59 year olds are college graduates. In contrast, only 26% of California’s 25-29 year olds have college degrees and this percentage may drop in light of our state’s second major shift— 49% of California’s public school students are Latino and yet 12 percent of Latinos age 25 and older had received a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2005.[2]
The convergence of these two demographic shifts could further reduce state revenues that fuel education for tomorrow’s worker. PPIC projects that “by 2025, 41 percent of jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree— but only 35 percent of California adults will have college diplomas. To put it another way, if current trends persist, the state will face a shortfall of one million college graduates. Though California Latinos have made strong gains in education from generation to generation, those gains show up mainly in high school graduation rates. U.S.-born Latinos attend college and graduate at far lower rates than other U.S.-born residents.[3]”
Can California afford the economic and social costs of not preparing our children for the world ahead? Only 60% of ninth grade Latinos will graduate from high school[4] and even more sobering is that only 14% will qualify for entrance into California State Universities (CSU) and 4% will be eligible to apply a University of California School (UC). While 81% of Latinos who apply for UC schools are accepted, only 38% will enroll and attend a UC University[5]. 49% of Latino four-year college students will not graduate[6].
These statistics are in stark contrast to California’s Asian and non-Latino White communities. Latinos often face significant economic as well as cultural pressures to enter the work force and help support their family during their high school and college years. PPIC concludes that the programs that show promise in keeping children in schools include career technical education and early college commitment programs in which middle school students learn about college entrance requirements and funding opportunities, and commit to a rigorous set of courses in high school.[7]
Reach Potential Movement believes that families need to have a vision for college before their children enter middle school so that they are thoroughly prepared for college prep classes when they enter high school. Our Dream for College Project teaches students the math of attending classes, turning in their homework and excelling in school will either multiply or divide their life opportunities and employment outlook. Employees with college degrees experienced 7% unemployment in 2009 compared to an unemployment rate closer to 14% for California workers with just high school diplomas. The 25% of Californians who did not graduate from high school experienced unemployment rates closer to 22% with an average annual salary of $18,734 compared to $27,915 for high school grads and $53,039 for college grads. The wage gap between college graduates and those with high school diplomas increased from 40% in 1980 to 90% in 2008.[8]
[1] Educating California: Choices for the Future, Hans Johnson, The Public Policy Institute of California, 2009 http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=891
[2] Latinos and College Access: Ensuring Young Latinos Can Achieve the American Dream, Senator Robert Menendez. Latino Leadership Link.
[3] Educating California: Choices for the Future, Hans Johnson, The Public Policy Institute of California, 2009 http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=891
[4] California Dropout Research Project, UC Santa Barbara, 2009
[5] University of California Application, Admissions and Enrollment of California Resident Freshmen for Fall 1989 through 2008
[6] Rising to the Challenge: Hispanic College Graduation Rates as a National Priority Andrew P. Kelly, Mark Schneider, Kevin Carey, American Enterprise Institute, 2010
[7] Educating California: Choices for the Future, Hans Johnson, The Public Policy Institute of California, 2009 http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=891
[8] Ibid
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