Opportunities Abound
Opportunities Abound: A Partnership for College Access
If you’re interested in being a part of the Opportunities Abound Student Leader Program, please complete and submit this online application.
Opportunities Abound is a partnership between various Macalester departments and community agencies to promote increased access to higher education for local youth – many of whom are potential first generation college students, low income and/or students of color.
Dwindling resources prevent many high schools from providing vital college counseling support to prospective first-generation college students and other students from low-income families. Low-income students often lack crucial information about college admission and financial aid processes, particularly those who cannot draw upon the resources and experiences of college-educated parents.
To address these inequities, the Macalester College Community Engagement Center launched the Opportunities Abound partnership to provide local students with the guidance, basic information and skills they need to compete effectively and increase the chances that low-income students will attend a college or university.
Primary goal:
To promote the enrollment of and foster increased access to higher education for local youth – many of whom are potential first generation college students, low income and/or students of color.
Main focus:
Building a strong infrastructure for institutional approach to college access.
Since the establishment of the Opportunities Abound partnership, the offices at Macalester College (including Admissions, Financial Aid, Community Engagement Center and the Department of Multicultural Life) that had previously worked independently with local youth and students of color now work together to:
- Strengthen relationships with local college access programs
- Host campus visit experiences for local youth
- Recruit, train and support a Macalester student leadership program
- Provide volunteer, work-study, and staff support to local college access programs
- Facilitate college access sessions for community agencies and local schools
Macalester students have an opportunity to connect with local youth as campus visit volunteers, earning their work-study financial aid through Off Campus Student Employment with local college access organizations and as alumni serving as full-time AmeriCorps members helping local youth prepare for ACT exams and the college admission process.
For additional information about Opportunities Abound or college access at Macalester,
Please contact Ruth Janisch, Community Engagement Center – [email protected], (651)696-6645
or
Sedric McClure, Community Engagement Center – [email protected], (651)696-6014
or
College Access Issue Based Organizer – [email protected]