May 29, 2008 Boston students find "Access" to college Play video

(Leslie Gaydos, NECN) - A Boston non-profit organization doesn't think money should be an issue when it comes to sending high schoolers to college. The organization is called "Access" and its goal is to get as many Boston Public School students to college as possible.

Script:

This spring, Luz Mederos became the first person in her family to graduate from college, earning a business degree from Northeastern.

Luz always knew she could do it...but didn't know how she would pay for college. She got help from "Access," Boston's leading provider of financial aid advising and scholarships.

"I had no idea about FAFSA and all of these federal forms I had to fill out and they were able to sit down with me and weigh all my options. It is expensive here..but Access was able to help me figure out some scholarships for me...living in Mission Hill I qualified for some scholarships in the area and that helped me a lot."

Access, founded in 1985, partners with 39 Boston high schools to help students find the money they need to get to college.

Bob Janino-Racine is the Executive Director.

Racine: We see every year, bright, talented motivated dreamers that are graduating from high school that are academically strong..but financially, are in a tough position to afford their college dreams. It is the ultimate barrier that young people in Boston face in getting to college. Access informs kids of affordable college options and resources that are available

Access also provides money for Boston Public School students who have gone through the financial aid process..but are still finding themselves coming up short. They call them the Access Last Dollar Scholarships.

Deleon: Most students still have a very sizeable gap that exists after they have gotten their financial aid packages from schools. We help ease that gap by filling a significant amount of it so that it makes students getting to college a lot easier.

Caroline Deleon is an Access advisor covering five city schools.

Deleon: I break down what a loan is ..scholarship is...what a grant is..talk to them about the schools that they are applying to....advise them to have not only an academic safe school, but a financial one as well, because the reality is, that their dream school could cost so much more than what they expected.

She helped Lewis Pough, a senior at Odyssey High School tackle financial aid and scholarship applications. He's headed to Union College in New York and plans to double major in engineering and business.

Since 1999 about 70-percent of Access scholars have gone on to graduate.

Racine: Our goal is to really focus on keeping kids in school..it is not enough to just help young people over the threshold of college and getting them there..it is critical that we help them get there and then we help them graduate.

Luz hopes to use her degree to work as a counselor with middle school kids and help them realize their dreams of attending college.

Luz: Organizations like Access give students like myself the option that they deserve and I really appreciate that.

Since 1985, Access has provided financial aid advice to nearly 40,000 Boston students and awarded millions of dollars in scholarships.