Home > Archived: Eligible students who sign up for College Bound program

Archived: Eligible students who sign up for College Bound program

Data source: Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) College Bound Scholarship (CBS) applicants matched with Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

Supplemental Information
Why is this a priority?

The College Bound Scholarship, created to improve high school graduation and college-going rates for low-income students, now has data that demonstrate that these goals are achievable. 78 percent of the College Bound students in the Class of 2012 graduated from high school - 19 percentage points higher than their low-income peers who did not apply for the program. Furthermore, nearly 8,000 College Bound students enrolled in college in the first year.

How are we doing?

In partnership with OSPI, the College Success Foundation (CSF), regional community organizations, schools, and others, the percentage of students who signed up for the program has steadily increased from 57% in 2007-08 to 80% in 2012-13. During this same period, the number of eligible students grew by 8,000 students. Applications received to date in fall of 2013-14 are 6,000 higher than this time last year and nearly 19,000 students have already applied as 7th graders.

What are we working on?

The efforts of the WSAC and CSF to improve enrollment of eligible students include: enlisting the support and commitment of K-12 administrators, clock-hour training of counselors and teachers (webinars, workshops, conferences, etc.), and sharing enrollment, graduation, and college-attendance data by school and district. The WSAC has streamlined the web-based application process and developed a secure web-based portal to share program enrollment and FAFSA application information to allow schools to identify and support students.

Reported by: WSAC