What is College Readiness?

According to the Educational Policy Improvement Center, college readiness means that a student can enter a college classroom, without remediation, and successfully complete entry-level college requirements. Students that are enrolled in remediation courses in their first year of college have only a 17-39% graduation rate (College Board 2004). In order for a student to be considered college ready there are skills, content knowledge and behaviors that must be acquired before leaving high school. 

Core Skills

The core areas of college readiness are:
  • Strong intellectual growth throughout the primary and secondary years fostered by increasingly challenging content in the four core subjects and beyond.
  • The ability to think critically and problem solve in the context of a continuously changing set of circumstances and realities.
  • The advancement of reading, writing, and numeric skills that enable success in all college courses.
  • The capacity to communicate effectively with individuals from a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds.
  • The Center for College Readiness provides students, teachers, and administrators with the training and access to resources needed to create and facilitate college ready classrooms, campuses, and districts.  

Why is it important?

For every 100 ninth graders in America…69 graduate from high school, 42 enter college, 28 return to college for their sophomore year, 20 earn a bachelor’s degree within six years 

Only 45% of students enrolled in post-secondary education will earn a bachelor’s degree. This statistic is largely due to the fact that many students are compelled to take remedial coursework in their first two years. Rigorous course work in high school, such as AP and IB, better prepares students for post-secondary education and helps ensure that more students will successfully complete their university degrees. It is essential that higher-education institutions have a robust pipeline of students well prepared for college-level work and equipped with the skills and knowledge to compete and collaborate in a global economy.

According to the College Board, students take on average 6.2 years to complete a 4-year degree (at an average cost of $18,000 per year) often due to remedial coursework. Thus, when students have the skills necessary to complete their college degrees in 4 years, post-secondary education becomes far more affordable.

Are you ready for college?

  • Have you taken rigorous curriculum and performed well? We analyze this by looking at transcripts and College requirement specific courses
  • What is your standardized test scores? We discuss the scores and what they mean in relation to various colleges
  • Are you mentally prepared to be “on his/her own”? This determination is made through authentic assessment (discussions and activities)
  • How far away from home are you prepared to go? We use articles and questionnaires for parents and students to answer this question
  • What kind of extra curricular activities have you been involved in? We help focus student in particular areas
  • Have you taken a leadership role in any activities? We can help guide students in this area.
  • What do you do in your spare time? We discuss what colleges are looking for.
  • Do you have any special talents? Music, dance, theater, athletics?
 
Not ready yet? Don't worry, there are many options and we can discuss the pros and cons of each
  • Gap year: travel, work?
  • Community College?