Admission Possible recently received two national awards of excellence from associations representing the highest standards in the college access field.
Admission Possible received the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) 2009 Human Relations Award, honoring a person or organization instrumental in making postsecondary education opportunities available to historically underrepresented students. NACAC supports counseling and enrollment professionals helping students realize their full postsecondary educational potential. The organization was also recently awarded the National College Access Network’s (NCAN) 2009 Organization Award of Excellence, which recognizes the work of a college access program to improve access to and success in postsecondary education for first-generation, underrepresented and low-income students.
“While this recognition means so much to the Admission Possible AmeriCorps members and our staff, it is really an acknowledgement of the dedication and drive of the students we serve,” Kate Lundeen, executive director of the Greater Milwaukee chapter said. “Our high school coaches do whatever it takes to ensure that each student has the resources and opportunity to increase their ACT score, visit college campuses, and apply for scholarships, but the students who come twice a week after school are making the real investment in their futures.”
Admission Possible provides comprehensive and intensive services at no cost to students or partner high schools. Students spend 320 hours of time on task through twice weekly after-school sessions in which they work on ACT test preparation, college admission and financial aid applications and prepare for the transition to college. Ninety-eight percent of Admission Possible students have earned admission to college, and nearly 80 percent of Admission Possible students who enrolled in college are still working toward degrees or have graduated.
“With support from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Northwestern Mutual Foundation, we were able to serve students within a few months of opening our operations in Milwaukee,” Lundeen said. “Leaders at the school district, local colleges, and community members have made it possible for us to help make college admission possible for many more Milwaukee high school students.”
The NACAC and NCAN awards are given to just one group each year, and the list of past winners is a who’s who in college access and success. Admission Possible launched its college access programming for promising low-income high school students in Milwaukee 2008 under local leadership and now serves 140 high school juniors and seniors in four high schools.
