College/Community Partnership Program

Administered by the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education (CAPHE), in concert with Dollars for Scholars, a program of the Minnesota-based Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America, this grant program linked colleges with community organizations to increase and improve opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth.

The College/Community Partnership Program encouraged the integration of resources from both the college and the community to help implement effective acadmic achievement programs. In addition, each partnership utilized local Dollars for Scholars chapters to increase community involvement and financial contributions to help youth obtain a postsecondary education.

Following an initial grant of $1.05 million in 1993 from DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, in 1996 the program received a new $1 million grant from the same funder for continued work.

Funder: DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund

Program Status: The program officially ended in June 1999.

Participating Institutions

1993-1996
Chicago, Illinois
Roosevelt University/
Martin Luther King, Jr. High School

Clinton, South Carolina
Presbyterian College/
Laurens County Chamber of Commerce

Dallas, Texas
Paul Quinn College/
Youth and Family Impact Centers, Inc.

Fresno, California
Fresno Pacific University/
Roosevelt High School

Gary, Indiana
Valparaiso University/
Higher Learning Connection Scholarship

Gaston, North Carolina
Belmont Abbey College/
Gaston County Chamber of Commerce

Holyoke, Massachusetts
Mount Holyoke College/
Latino Scholarship Fund

Jersey City, New Jersey
Saint Peter’s College/
Monumental Baptist Church/
College Preparatory Incentive Program

Los Angeles, California
Mount St. Mary’s College/
Garfield, Hamilton and Van Nuys High Schools

Louisville, Kentucky
Bellarmine College/
The Lincoln Foundation

New York, New York
Marymount Manhattan College/
Settlement College Readiness Program

Owensboro, Kentucky
Kentucky Wesleyan College/
Dollars for Scholars
of Owensboro-Daviess County

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Beaver College/
Morris E. Leeds Middle School

Pikeville, Kentucky
Pikeville College/
Community Educational Foundation
of Pikeville County

Salisbury, North Carolina
Livingston College/
Salisbury Housing Authority

Tacoma, Washington
University of Puget Sound/
Access to College Initiative

Toppenish, Washington
Heritage College/
Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic

Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee University/
Wil-Low Housing Authority, Inc.

Utica, New York
Utica College/
Utica City School District

Ypsilanti, Michigan
University of Detroit Mercy/
Willow Run High School ABC3

1996-1999
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lesley College/
The Cambridge Housing Authority
Work Force Program

Clinton, South Carolina
Presbyterian College/
Laurens County Chamber of Commerce

Fresno, California
Fresno Pacific College/
Roosevelt High School

Holyoke, Massachusetts
Hampshire and Mount Holyoke Colleges/
Latino Scholarship Fund

Indianapolis, Indiana
Marian College/
21st Century Scholars Program

Jersey City, New Jersey
Saint Peter’s College/
Monumental Baptist Church/
College Preparatory Incentive Program

Los Angeles, California
Mount St. Mary’s College/
James Garfield High School

Los Angeles, California
Occidental College/
Eagle Rock High School

Louisville, Kentucky
Bellarmine College/
The Lincoln Foundation

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Augsburg College/
The Larry Brown Youth Education Corporation

New London, Connecticut
Connecticut College/
Centro de la Communidad

New York, New York
Marymount Manhattan College/
Settlement College Readiness Program

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Beaver College/
Morris E. Leeds Middle School

Toppenish, Washington
Heritage College/
Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic

Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee University Cooperative
Extension Program/
Wil-Low Housing Authority

Utica, New York
Utica College/
Utica City School District

Project activities

The College/Community Partnership Program helped to strengthen private colleges and universities as significant educational resources for low-income students in their communities. CAPHE conducted this program in partnership with Dollars for Scholars, a program of Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America, from 1993-1999. Working with community groups, housing authorities, schools, and service organizations, private colleges and universities administered academic support programs and assisted in the development of local scholarship foundations to improve educational achievement of pre-college students.

In 1996, the College/Community Partnership Program received second-level funding from DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund. As a result, eleven of the existing partnerships received second-level funding to strengthen, professionalize, and institutionalize their partnership programs. An additional five partnerships were also created.

While the program at each site was unique, the partnerships served students from fourth through twelfth grade, using academic support strategies that included school-year, weekend, and summer instructional programs; tutoring; mentoring; school and college counseling and career guidance; study and test skills preparation; parent education; and community service. Each site had an academic component and a local Dollars for Scholars scholarship foundation. The Dollars for Scholars chapters played a vital role in each partnership. Their goal was to both encourage and direct community involvement in support of low-income students' achievement, and to raise funds for college education as a means of increasing the motivation of the students themselves. The chapters in these communities also helped to create a focus on community action around issues of educational access and inclusion.

Effective Practices and Program Outcomes

During the six years of the College/Community Partnership Program, the colleges and community organizations successfully joined forces to extend their services to include educational programs that have more meaningful impact on the lives of low-income students and their families.

Lessons from the College/Community Partnership Program have been published in The Intentional Community: Colleges and Community Groups Helping Low-Income Youth Prepare for College. The publication provides a blue print for the development of highly effective partnerships between colleges and community organizations for the purpose of preparing low income youth for a postsecondary education. Drawing upon our learning from the program, the publication identifies successful strategies employed as well as suggestions for what to avoid. The publication is particularly helpful for college administrators and community organizers wanting to develop and/or enhance similar programs and activities. The publication also identifies structural characteristics and process issues associated with a) the creation of pre-college academic support programs that effect both academic achievement and self-esteem; b) the creation of community-based scholarship foundations; and c) the creation of partnerships between institutions of higher learning and community organizations.

Printed copies of this report are available for sale through the CIC publications department.