November 20, 2008 State of Education: Making college accessible Play video

(Peter Howe, NECN) - The Boston Foundation and NECN continue the series: State of Education: Making the grade in Massachusetts. Over the course of this year we have been examining what's working and what isn't in public schools, from preschool to college. The focus of this program is on higher education.

The cost of a college education can be daunting especially in this economy. However there is a non-profit that has been working to make college accessible to as many Boston Public School students as possible. Peter Howe reports.

When you add it all up it's little short of heroic that Thao Nguyen is at northeastern university. Her mom's a cook at a Vietnamese restaurant in their home neighborhood of Dorchester, Thao's dad still lives in Vietnam ... From which Thao emigrated just three years ago

“I didn't have any English when I came here so I started to learn English like 3 years ago”

Now she's studying to become a physicians assistant ... Tough courses like chemistry and biology. Of all the strikes against thao going to college, the biggest is money. She doesn't come from a family that could pay full tuition.

Without financial aid or scholarship they would say I cannot afford it. All I have to do is borrow something long and then end up in debt I think

But Thao wound up getting offered a full scholarship at northeastern ... As well as Boston University and Suffolk University ... Thanks to a non profit group called access

I

think without the advisors of access I would say oh my gosh I’m not like I don't even know if I can get money to go to college and I can't afford all that money. It's like 10,000, 20,000, 40,000 and stuff without the advisors I couldn't make it

Since it was founded in 1985, access has helped over 44 thousand Boston students ... Last year alone it helped 22 hundred get 26 million dollars in financial aid. Bob Giannino Racine is executive director of access.

The most talented, bright, motivated young people can graduate from high school, get into a college, and if they can't afford to go or stay in college than all that other work that we have done to prepare that young person 12 48 05 is for naught, if they can't afford it

But winning financial aid can be a grueling process.

Imagine that you're an 18-year-old high school senior, or the parent of a senior who may have limited English skills, and you're seeking federal financial aid. This questionnaire goes from question 1 to question 104 h. And if you apply to an ivy league college or an elite private college, you might face a questionnaire with 200 questions.

“I don't think I would be able to do it myself.”

Thao's access counselor met with her several times.

“We went over the whole thing together to make sure that everything is correct and she tried to make the most out of it to make sure I get the most moneys from the federal as well as the school.”

At Boston Latin academy, senior Marjorie Lopez Marinez is just starting the process. An honors student, soccer and softball co-captain, class vice president and weekend employee at American Eagle, Marjorie's got every reason to aim high

My first choice right now is Stanford, then it's Harvard, then it's Georgetown

All colleges where she'll need to seek financial aid.

How did it compare to some of your a-p final exams? “My AP exams were easier. Especially Latin.” Had you ever had to fill out anything as complicated as that? “No, Chris did it all for me, so that's good.”

Chris Shen is Marjorie's access advisor .. And he's also working with 1,200 other students at latin academy and two other Boston schools.

Christopher Shen: It's a complex process that it almost takes someone who's a specialist, or someone who's familiar with taxes, to be able to master it

Access is not just helping Boston students get into college ... It's helping them stay there. A major issue following a shocking new report this week from northeastern university and the private industry council about Boston public high school graduates from the class of 2000 who went to college. By 2007, only 35 percent overall had graduated from college ... Less than 60 percent from the city's three exam schools.

One of the findings from the Northeastern pic report that surprised a lot of observers was how few students coming out of the city's elite exam schools, like Boston Latin, aren't graduating from college within seven years. By definition they're the city's students who are the best prepared academically. So experts like Giannino Racine think the only reason they aren't getting through college is they're running out of money

12 45 40 the wall that's most insurmountable for kids when they are in college is the financial wall

Access found 70 percent of the students it helped from 1999 to 2002 graduated from college within 5 years. Better than double the citywide record ... No coincidence: they are getting close financial help.

Young people need a place to turn when they hit a wall of some kind. In our case, when kids hit a financial wall they turn to access, and they know they can turn to access

If finances were not a problem for kids, if they were taken off the table for the young people in Boston, than then all the other investments that are being made , and those are also necessary, will bear the fruit that we all dream, which is more and more of them graduating from college and more of them graduating more quickly from college

But as Thao Nguyen can attest, the help she gets from access goes beyond money.

A big change from her high school, Excel high school in South Boston

“The transition's so huge. The campus is much much bigger than the high school I attended. My high school is only one floor.”

She talks a lot with her access advisor.

“I stay in touch with my advisor Caroline . We been chatting on Facebook and she's been asking me how you doing? Like what's up over there and are you doing well? And she also gave me a lot of advice during the transition time. “She was like ok you'll be fine and she told me her experience and like we're more like friends now. She's not only advisor but she's like my friend now.”

They didn't just help you get into college, they're helping you get through college. Yes!

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State of Education: Successful higher education programs

State of Education: Making college accessible

State of Education: Coping with the high costs

State of Education: How progress can be made