Metro Denver High School Students Refuse to Be Left Behind.

Business Editors/Education Writers

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 13, 2003

College Summit Workshops Equip Colorado Low-Income Youth For

First-Generation College Enrollment

College Summit Colorado will kick off its eighth season of working to increase college

Over the next 2 months, approximately 150 Denver high school students and 40 teachers and youth workers will participate in college immersion workshops at three college campuses across the state. In 2002, only 17% of low-income students in Colorado were participating in college, placing Colorado 42nd in the nation and illustrating why the program is sorely needed in the state.

College Summit Colorado is part of a national non-profit organization that has nearly doubled the college enrollment rate of low-income students. The season begins with a workshop this weekend, June 12-15, for 50 students hosted onsite at Regis University. The students will spend four days living on a college campus, producing college application materials and creating a concrete plan for their high school senior year that will take them toward college enrollment. The three workshops will assist students from Aurora Central High School, Colorado High School of Denver, Colorado I Have A Dream, Eagle Rock School, Hinkley High School, Manual Educational Complex, Montbello High School, PS 1 Charter School, Save Our Youth and West High School. The remaining 2003 workshops will be held at University of Northern Colorado on July 17-20 and the University of Denver July 31 - August 3. Student interest exceeds workshop capacity.

Each workshop closes with a banquet on Saturday evening where community leaders, parents, and College Summit staff come together to recognize and celebrate the students' achievements. The highlight of the evening is hearing the students' own words -- passages from their personal essays -- that reveal the talent that America's college-ready youth have to offer. "All too often first generation, under-represented youth fail to meet application deadlines for college admission. While young people with college-educated parents are virtually ensured a place on campus, the students who need the most help often get the least. Despite our best efforts to assist them, large student : counselor ratios limit our effectiveness. The intensive College Summit workshops give urban students a headstart in the process." Patricia Ludwig, former high school administration with Denver Public Schools.

ABOUT THE EDUCATION PROBLEM

The statistics are alarming. Consider that:

-- Colorado's low-income students enroll in college at lower

rates than high-income kids.

-- Academic preparation is only part of the problem, as in

Colorado (and all across the U.S.), high-income students who

get Ds in high school enroll in college at the same rate as

low-income students who get As.(1)

-- Children of parents with a college degree are 1 1/2 times more

likely to enroll in college themselves -- but fewer than 20%

of all mothers of high school freshmen in 2002 will have a

college degree. (U.S. Census; NCES, 1999).

-- Over a lifetime, bachelor's degree holders earn 77% more

income and contribute almost $300,000 more in federal and

state taxes than do high school graduates. (U.S. Census, U.S.

Bureau of Labor).

ABOUT COLLEGE SUMMIT

College Summit is a national non-profit organization nearly doubling the college enrollment of low-income students. By working with all three critical players in the college access challenge -- low-income students, public high schools, and colleges -- College Summit builds and sustains a "pathway to college" that ultimately empowers low-income youth, their families and communities for generations to come. College Summit instills a "college going culture" where it is an expectation that all capable youth will go to college, and they are supported in that process by college-experienced adults.

Since its inception in 1993, College Summit students have enrolled in college at a rate of 79%, compared to a 46% rate nationwide for high school graduates from the same income level. Furthermore, 80% of College Summit students stay enrolled in college. In Colorado since 1996, these results have been achieved with over 1,300 students from 40 public high schools and youth agencies.

Interviews and photos available on request

(1) 77% vs. 78%. "The Intersection of Socioeconomic Status and

College Participation," Access Denied, 1992-3 BPS, The College

Board.