Clemente Students Visit University of Illinois - Champaign Campus

Trip is part of State’s new “Illinois College Guides” initiative to put more students on a college path

CHICAGO, IL -- Thirty high school students from Roberto Clemente Community Academy boarded a bus Wednesday destined for the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana for a trip they know could change the direction of their lives.

The Clemente students will tour the campus, receive briefings from admissions and financial aid officers, meet college students, and visit Latino and African-American campus organizations. The trip has been organized through the new Illinois College Guides initiative, an innovative partnership comprised of the University of Illinois System, Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) and the National College Advisory Corps (NCAC).

The goal of the Illinois College Guides is to put students who may never have considered post-secondary education on the path to a college degree.  The students targeted by the Illinois College Guides program are often the first in their family to consider attending college.

Using “near-peer monitoring,” high school students are advised by Illinois College Guides, recent graduates of one of the three University of Illinois campuses who have undergone rigorous training and relocated into the community near the high school.  Because they are only a few years older than the students they counsel, these near-peer mentors are uniquely qualified to serve as a sounding board for high school students, thereby establish trusting relationships and leading them on the path to college.

"For some of these students, this will be the first time they have ever seen a college campus. For others, this will be a deciding factor if the university offers what the students want,” said Jennifer Juarez, the Illinois College Guide assigned to Clemente who organized the trip.  “These campus visits really help set the tone of a college-going culture for all Clemente students".

Andy Davis, ISAC Executive Director, met with the Clemente students as they boarded the bus.

“You all have worked hard to be on this bus,” Davis told the students.  “The University of Illinois is one of the best universities in the nation.  If you like what you see today and want to attend the U of I, we at ISAC will back you up and do all we can to help you afford it.”

“The college campus visit is a vital part of the college search process,” said Judith Flink, Executive Director of University of Illinois’ Student Financial Services Office which supervises the Guides. The Illinois College Guides arrange for students to visit a variety of college campuses so that they get a feel for a college campus by visiting a dorm, exploring the campus, sitting in a class or lecture and touring the library.”

In addition to Clemente Community Academy, four schools have been selected for the first phase of Illinois College Guides: Walter H. Dyett High School in Chicago, Waukegan High School, Springfield Southeast High School and Rantoul Township High School.

Each of the five high schools provides the Guides with a semi-private office space, a computer with Internet access and a phone. The cost for the first year is $200,000, which ISAC is financing. For their 11-month commitment, each Guide will receive a $23,000 stipend, plus a $5,000 for future education costs or student loan forgiveness at the completion of the year.

All five of the Illinois College Guides - three of whom are bilingual - graduated from one of the three University of Illinois campuses this spring.  During the summer, they underwent a five-week in-depth training from experts at NCAC, University of Illinois System staff and ISAC. Topics included financial aid training, admissions counseling, test prep, parent outreach strategies, listening skills and strategies for becoming an integral part of the community in which they will serve.  They have visited various Illinois university and community college campuses to meet with admissions and financial officers.

The Guides will conduct parent outreach, FAFSA training, SAT/ACT preparation workshops, individual counseling and college visits such as the Clemente trip. They will assist students with every step of the college admission and financial aid process.

The Illinois College Guide at Clemente Community Academy - Jennifer Juarez - earned her B.A. in Communication and Sociology from the University of Illinois-Chicago last May. Juarez has also been active with Radio Arte, El Valor Youth Enrichment Program and Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Alternative High School.

In just a few weeks, Juarez has organized Parents’ Nights in both English and Spanish, done one-on-one counseling with hundreds of students, organized college application workshops and is planning two more campus trips after the U of I trip.

“A campus visit may make the difference in helping a high school student know whether a particular campus environment is right for him or her,” Davis said. “It also helps these students envision themselves as college students, which is a powerful motivator.”

The Illinois College Guides’ efforts are supplementing the work of existing guidance counselors, all of whom have overwhelming caseloads. The ratio of students to high school counselors nationwide is 488:1. The average high school student receives 20 minutes of counseling per year.

“We have thousands of Illinois high school students with the potential to attend and excel in college, but they slip through the cracks, especially at high schools whose guidance counselors have crushing caseloads,” Davis said. “This initiative is helping thousands of students understand that college is an option and these five trailblazing Illinois College Guides help them go after it.”