College Success

Since 2007, College Success has been one of the centerpieces of AEF’s efforts to support education transformation and student success in Atlanta. The AEF engages educational institutions, non-profit organizations, community leaders, and business leaders to collaborate in providing increased access to opportunities for all of Atlanta’s students. In April 2011, the AEF became a United Way of Metro Atlanta partner for the Ready By 21 initiative, focusing on expanding opportunities and improving quality of programs for students in grades 8-16 in Atlanta and the Metro Region.

Student Success: Every student graduates high school ready for success in college, career, and citizenship.

College Success Initiative

To support in- and out-of-school programming for Atlanta’s students, the AEF formed the College Success Network (CSN) in 2009. In 2012, the CSN has redefined itself into the Providing Access for Student Success (PASS) Network.  The PASS Network includes over 80 organizations that work to enhance and improve students' post-secondary::

• College, Career, and Citizenship Readiness
• Post-secondary Access
• College and/or Career Success

The network meets bi-monthly to discuss topics of interest to CSN/PASS members and to exchange information on their programs for future collaboration, program enhancement, continuous improvement, and strong partnerships.

Through the CSN/PASS, the AEF has formed:

The Student Success Research Collaborative that will use quantitative (objective) and qualitative (subjective) research to establish a new baseline to measure progress and to improve program services. The Student Success Research will also be used to inform strategic plans that improve the allocation of public and private resources to increase effectiveness, efficiency and quality of in- and out-of-school programs.

Youth Engagement Initiative that will explore innovative approaches to recognize the value of our teens and young adults and engage them in discussions on relevant issues facing our community.  TEDxYouth Day and the signature TEDxYouth@PiedmontPark exemplify a fresh approach to youth engagement.

College Access & College Going Culture that will include events to enhance the offerings of CSN/PASS participants such as Financial Aid Saturdays and begin a shift towards a college going culture in Atlanta and the metro area. A program that will raise awareness of and improve student readiness for careers in gaming, telecommunications, information technology, biotechnology and others is in development.