News
Brown University's College Advising Corps to Expand Thanks to nearly $600,000 from AmeriCorps
Recent college graduates partner with local schools and organizations to increase college knowledge
Providence, RI – The College Advising Corps, based at Brown University’s Howard R. Swearer Center for Public Service, will be expanding this fall thanks to a new AmeriCorps grant from the RI Service Alliance and the Corporation for National and Community Service. The grant will total $576,396 over three years, contingent on national funding availability and grant performance.
Launched last fall, the Swearer Center worked with schools and community organizations to launch the College Advising Corps. In the program, College Guides – recent college graduates from Brown and URI – work full time alongside school guidance counselors, teachers, and community organization staff to convey the importance of pursuing college, and encourage and support students in applying for college, taking SATs and college prep classes, and applying for financial aid. The program had seven College Guides in Providence, Central Falls, and West Warwick in
its first year, and will expand to 12 College Guides and additional locations with the new funding.
The initiative was launched at Brown with a $1 million grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation – part of the Foundation’s $10 million nationwide initiative aimed at significantly increasing college enrollment and graduation among high-achieving, low-income high school and community college students – along with an AmeriCorps grant from the RI Service Alliance.
About the Swearer Center
The Swearer Center works to connect the capacities of the university and community to address inequalities in our society and communities; create, share, and apply knowledge for the public good; and educate and prepare students for lives of effective action.
About Americorps and Rhode Island Service Alliance
AmeriCorps programs in Rhode Island serve low-income Rhode Island children, providing free after-school programs; crucial 1:1 tutoring and mentoring in classrooms and community centers; literacy programming and skills development in both childcare & home care centers; museum programming & teacher professional development in Head Start Centers; standards-based environmental and science education, and college guidance and advising services. The Rhode Island Service Alliance, a state commission for national and community service, is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1994, which funds transformative service opportunities and promotes a statewide ethic of service and activism.
About The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation's programs include scholarships to undergraduate, graduate and high school students, and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need.