VCAC

About the Virginia College Advising Corps (VCAC)

2019-2020 Virginia College Advising Corps

The Virginia College Advising Corps was established in 2005 to encourage and assist high school students with the transition between high school and post-secondary education. Currently 45 Advisers serve 50 high schools throughout Virginia. VCAC was the model for the National College Advising Corps, now a cohort of 17 national universities using recent undergraduate alumni to encourage students to pursue higher education.

The Virginia College Advising Corps is a joint venture of The University of Virginia and the College Advising Corps, and is an Americorps program.

Since the program’s inception in 2005, VCAC has served more than 94,000 students and helped over 8,000 students enroll in post-secondary institutions. In the Commonwealth, while almost 80% of people ages 18-24 earn a high school diploma, only 53% move on to attend college directly after high school. Therefore, the purpose of each College Adviser is to increase the college-going rates for first generation, low income, and under-represented high school students in their respective communities. The College Advisers make the perfect advocate and “near-peer” adviser because they have just graduated from college, while also not being far removed from a high school environment.

VCAC works with school counselors, teachers, administration, and other community members to make higher education more available and affordable for every student. They host a variety of events such as college information nights, financial aid workshops, college representative visits, among many other things. Advisers will also meet with students individually to discuss college options, conduct college searches, complete college applications, prepare and register for the SAT/ACT/PSAT, file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), apply for scholarships, and help the student understand their financial aid award packages. While each Adviser’s role varies in their specific school, they will each work with students to aid them in the college planning and application process to ensure that they find the best school for them!

The need for an Advising Corps...

Nearly 25% of low-income students who score in the top quartile on standardized tests will never go to college.
Many low-income, first-generation-college, and underrepresented students are not receiving the advice and support they need to identify and enroll in colleges where they will persist to degree - with lasting consequences not only for those students, but also for the nation. Click the following link to view a recent New York Times article about the Advising Corps. New York Times Article about the Advising Corp
College access studies have found that the complexities of college and financial aid applications are a serious barrier for low-income students, many of whom are the first in their families to consider college.
The national student-to-guidance counselor ratio of 467:1 means that the average student spends 20 minutes per year talking to a counselor.
According to the Department of Education, 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs today require post-secondary education, yet the U.S. lags behind other nations in young adults enrolled in higher education.

Report abuse