San Diego Youth to College (Y2C) program
The “Youth to College” program is designed to address the important issue of students from under-represented groups who do not know that higher education can be a viable option for them. The University of San Diego and three university partners—Mesa College, San Diego City College (SDCC), and University of California San Diego (UCSD)—partner with local community schools and after-school partners. This is part of national efforts to address the important issue of educational inequity. Research on college attendance emphasizes the important of: academic skills, peer influence, knowledge of the value of a college education and the practical steps to obtain it. This program seeks to build the chances that under-represented students will know that college is a viable choice for them. This program is sponsored by California Campus Compact with funding from the Corporation for National Service “Learn and Serve” program, and is a statewide project involving 12 campuses and 12,000 college students and youth each year for three years (2006-2009). The grant is $40,000 annually with a $60,000 match each year for three years.
As noted above, the purpose is to help interest and prepare students from underserved populations to attend college. While tutoring/mentoring is one strategy, the other is to do joint service-learning projects. The intention is also that university administrators will gain more understanding of what students see as barriers to college attendance.
We are currently focused on Linda Vista, and work closely with the Youth Coalition which has established a Family Success Center at Montgomery Middle School. |
