Georgia College Advising Corps Helps Underserved Students Get into College

The Georgia College Advising Corps–a college-access program sponsored by the Institute of Higher Education–continues to expand its reach and pile up impressive statistics in its efforts to assist low-income and underrepresented students get to college. In 2015-2016, GCAC will serve 14 high schools in six school districts with a total of 17,230 students.

Launched in 2008, the program sends recent college graduates to high schools in targeted Georgia communities to advise students on preparing for college. Since many of the advisers were first-generation college students themselves, they have a unique understanding of the challenges facing the students they work with and they are trained to offer help with college searches and completing admissions and financial-aid applications. GCAC advisers understand that it’s not necessarily a lack of effort in school that keeps students from pursuing a college degree. Often, it’s a lack of information and guidance on how to prepare for and apply to college.

“Increasing the proportion of Georgians who attend and complete college is vital to the prosperity of this state,” says IHE Director Libby V. Morris. “The support of donors to the GCAC program, the dedication of our advisers, and the determination of the students they serve is helping us realize that goal.”

In Georgia, the average ratio of high school students to guidance counselors is more than 400 students for every counselor. In some low-income areas, the student-to-counselor ratio is even higher. The American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students, and the advising corps can help schools get closer to that benchmark, says Yarbrah Peeples, GCAC program director.

While guidance counselors are trained to deal with the mental and emotional health of students, the advisers are trained to deal exclusively with preparing students for college. This can include anything from helping them register for the SAT and ACT to finding scholarships and advising them on what colleges look for in an application essay. By providing this assistance, the advisers help free up time for guidance counselors to focus on their students’ well-being.

GCAC relies on support from foundations, corporations, community organizations and individual donors. For information on how to support GCAC and other IHE programs, see the inside back cover of the IHE Report.