Community College Partnership Program

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Community College Compass Scholars works with community college students that are former foster care youth in California. Our program administers:

• Navigation assistance for the financial aid and application processes
  • We provide one-on-one assistance with filling out FAFSA, applying to each school online, applying for scholarships and grants, sending school transcripts, obtaining recommendation letters, and more!
• Providing academic counselors
  • Our counselors are available 24/7 for emergencies and have bi-weekly one on one virtual counseling sessions
• College tours and accommodation
  • We provide transportation and accommodation (when possible) for students to visit their prospective campuses
• Securing housing at their prospective universities
  • We connect our students with on-campus housing (when available) and assist students to find apartments, navigate their lease, and move into their housing
• Drafting and outlining personal statements and college essays
  • College essays are a critical part of the application! We create drafts with our students that best reflect their accomplishments and give them the best possible chance of transferring. On average we edit their draft five times, with three different counselors input, before submitting their application
• Obtaining fee waivers for applications and paying for applications
• Connecting students to undergraduate research opportunities (something colleges look favorably upon)
  • Each student is encouraged and guided through the process. We help them find advisors, conduct original research, and pay for their academic conference fees, lodging, and meals. 
• A partnership connection to the UCLA Field Biology Alliance to facilitate field research for our STEM Scholars
  • Each Compass student that applies to this program is automatically accepted and their costs and transportation are covered for the 10-week program. (Los Angeles County only)
• Applying youth for extended foster care if necessary
• Budget for Emergencies
  • Dental, Mental Health, and other related emergencies experienced by the student can often be solved with our student emergency fund
• Resources for Undocumented/DACA Students

 

Compass For Youth provides these services to traditional age and non-traditional age community college students that are former foster care scholars. Many other programs stop offering services to youth over 25. Compass believes being in care still has an impact on these youth and their trajectories later in life. 

 

Supporting Research:

The equal opportunity to engage with university-level research, an expectation of many graduate program admissions departments, has been demonstrated to: increase persistence, boost academic achievement, and shorten the time to degree completion. 

Hewlett, J. A. (2018). Broadening participation in undergraduate research experiences (UREs): The expanding role of the community college. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 17(3), es9