National College Advising Corps (NCAC)

National College Advising Corps (NCAC)

Review of Strategic Plan

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2NCAC_StratPlan(f)_S

Executive summary

• NCAC is a unique non-cohort college access program which relies on near-peer advisers and university partners

• NCAC is positioned for rapid growth; since its founding in 2004 it has grown to 15 partners and 175+ advisers

• Recently NCAC engaged in a strategic planning process to define its five year goals, operating model, and growth plan

• Growth scenarios estimate NCAC can serve up to ~500K students resulting in ~80K incremental enrollments over five years

• Critical requirements to deliver growth targets include:

– Aligning partners to execution of strategic planning decisions

– Strengthening National capabilities

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NCAC employs a unique model to increase college enrollment among disadvantaged US students

Overview • Recent college graduates placed in high-need schools and community colleges to:

– Support college application/transfer process, fit assessment, and selection

– Promote college going culture

– Help students believe they can “shoot high”

• Advisers support entire school

– Trained to identify students with highest need for college access services

– Seniors receive direct college access support

– Work with juniors to increase awareness of and preparations for college

• University partners collaborate with the National office to deliver program in their states

Why does it

matter?

• Young advisers act as role models; easily develop relationships with students

• Recent graduates bring entrepreneurship, creativity, and passion to program

• Adviser provides comprehensive support to schools

• Increases “college- going culture” in schools over time

• Leverages university resources and expertise

– Taps into pool of applicants

– Enables local management of relationships

“Near-peer” model Not limited to cohortsExecution through university partners

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NCAC’s network and student reach have grown rapidly since its founding in 2004

2004 • Program starts in UVA

2006 • Americorps support granted

2006-7 • $12M foundation grant awarded to replicate in 10 universities

• Program headquartered in UNC

2008 • Strategic planning process undertaken to guide growth

• New potential partners approach program

Note: Students served figures assume average senior class of 300 (split adviser schools not included); university partners include those in planning year, without advisers on the ground

0

10

20

30

40K

SY'05/

06

4K

SY'06/

07

7K

SY'07/

08

19K

SY'08/

09E

37K

1 1 11 13Universitypartners

14 22 62 124Advisersplaced

High school seniors servedby advisers Key organizational milestones

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NCAC’s primary goals over the next five years

• Deliver outcomes enabling as many students as possible to attend college over the next five years, with a stretch goal of ~80K additional enrollments

• Grow our network in current and new states while sustaining quality and the “essence” of our near-peer model

• Strengthen our brand recognition to fuel growth of near-peer model, and accelerate use of best practices

• Ensure diversity of advisers is consistent with communities they serve

• Inspire and develop advisers to become future public leaders

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Over the next five years, NCAC has the potential to serve over half a million seniors

Note: All seniors figure assumes average senior class of 300; “high touch” seniors are frequent users of NCAC services (based on interviews 120 students meet once or twice a week with advisers)* Should significant additional funding become available as a result of a stimulus package, funding constraints may be altered and faster growth can be possible

0

200

400

600K

SY'13/

14

72

SY'09/

10-

SY'13/

14

344

SY'13/

14

97

SY'09/

10-

SY'13/

14

437

SY'13/

14

133

SY'09/

10-

SY'13/

14

514

Projected students served

"High-touch"seniors

All seniors

Aggressive scenario

~4x advisers by year 5

Conservative scenario


Moderate scenario


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These targets translate into almost 80,000 incremental college enrollments

Note: Incremental enrollments calculated using all seniors as base; assumes average senior class of 300* Should significant additional funding become available as a result of a stimulus package, funding constraints may be altered and faster growth can be possible

0

20

40

60

80

100K

11

52

15

66

20

77

Projected incremental enrollments

With 8%incrementalenrollment

With 15%incrementalenrollment

Aggressive scenario

4x advisers by year 5

Conservative scenario


Moderate scenario


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Four-year college graduation increases life time earning by $900K

0

1

2

$2.5M

Studentsattending

college

1.2

Continuedto second

year

0.4

BA/BS

0.5

Average lifetime earnings by maximum educational attainment

Source: U.S. Census, College Board

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Incremental college graduation also provides considerable non-monetary and societal benefits

• Better health - college graduates have lower smoking rates and lead healthier lifestyles

• Reduced child neglect and abuse

• Children that are better prepared for school and more involved in extracurricular activities

Individual and family

Socio-economic

• Lower unemployment and poverty rates

• Reduced participation in social support programs (e.g., Medicaid, school lunch, food stamps)

• Higher levels of civic participation, including volunteer work, voting, and blood donation

• Lower crime rates and a significant reduction in associated crime costs (e.g., policing, incarceration, lost income)

Higher levels of educations is associated with…

Source: Education Pays, the benefits of higher education for individuals and society; College Board 2007; Saving Futures, Saving Dollars, The Impact of Education on Crime Reduction and Earnings; Alliance for Excellent Education 2006.

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University partners recruit and support

advisers

Partners place advisers in HS and CC

Advisers provide college access support

For whom?

What is our operating model?

Student outcomes

• What are the adviser selection criteria?

• How can we increase retention?

• What services should advisers provide?

What do we want to achieve?

• Where should advisers be placed? • What are the selection criteria for HS?• How many schools per adviser?• How should partners manage

relationships with schools and districts?

National supports network partners

• What is the role of National?• What resources can it provide?

• What are our intended outcomes?

Student beneficiaries

• Who are our primary bene-ficiaries?

Scope of the strategic planning engagement completed with The Bridgespan Group

• Where should we focus growth of current and new partners?

• What are preferred partner profiles within states?

• What are critical partner requirements?

What is our growth strategy?

What principles will guide our growth path?

How we will fund growth?

• What are the funding needs to attain growth?

• What is our funding strategy?

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NCAC outcomes and measures

• Increased college enrollment

• Two- and four-year college enrollment rates

• NSC database and adviser records

• Student baseline data on college enrollment

• Metric to measure program success

• Inform internal program changes

• College completion

• One/two-year persistence rates

• Graduation rates

• NSC database records • Inform internal program changes

• Improved fit of college placements

• Fit dimensions • Persistence and graduation rates

• Knowledge systems and NCAC rankings

• Inform internal program changes

Note: Measures to be expressed as absolutes and percentages

Outcomes Measures Data to inform measure Purpose

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Key adviser recruitment and support guidelines

• Mandatory that advisers are near-peer (not older than 25, recent grads) and demonstrate passion for public service and college access

• Diversity of advisers within a partner is consistent with the needs of the communities they serve

• Partners to prioritize recruitment of alumni from own university

• Focus on retention of high performing advisers for second year through several incentives, such as:– Career networking and advising– Bonuses or raises for 2nd year advisers– Opportunities for graduate-level credits

Guidelines

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13NCAC presentation Oct.9

NCAC adviser group is diverse- over 50% are from underrepresented populations

28

0

20

40

60

80

100%

07 By gender 08 By gender

Male

Female

07 By race 08 By race

Hispanic/Latino

Black

Caucasian

Other

Asian

Source: NCAC internal data

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advisers



For whom?


Student outcomes





















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Placement guidelines to ensure advisers are “set up for success”

• Partner to engage with schools when:

– School and district involved are willing to sign MOUs that allow partners to enforce their commitments

– Target population is present in schools (assessment based on a set of indicators used consistently across program)

• Advisers to be assigned one school

• Placement exceptions to be allowed by National when:— Rural schools too small to be served by a full-time adviser

— Urban schools too large to be served by one adviser

Guidelines

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16TBG NCAC_StratPlan(f)

University-district

• District commitments (e.g. full district support, agreement to adviser role, provision of data)

• University commitments (e.g. number of advisers to be placed in district, adviser compensation, technical support)

• One year, with automatic renewal subject to three months notice from either party

• University program director

• District superintendent

University-high school

• High school commitments (e.g. adviser role, supervisor responsibilities, office resources, access to students, access to data)

• University commitments (e.g. number of advisers to be placed in high school, adviser compensation, data confidentiality)

• One year, with automatic renewal subject to three months notice from either party

• University program director

• High school principal

Partners to enforce MOUs with districts and high schools to manage relationships

MOU Critical elements Term Signed by

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University-district MOU: detail

• District commitments

– Provide university full support in implementing program within agreed upon district high schools

– Obtain agreement of designated high school principals to university-high school MOU

– Commit that the services/role to be performed by adviser will be In line with NCAC goals and intended beneficiaries Under guidance of principal and/or other designated

supervisor

– Provide student baseline and outcomes data to NCAC

– Commit a district representative to engage in regular updates with university partners and selected high schools

• University commitments

– Assign pre-agreed number of advisers to district

– Pay adviser salary and benefits

– Provide adviser training and technical support

Key provisions

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advisers



For whom?


Student outcomes





















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Our growth path principles

WHERE and HOW MUCH should NCAC

grow?

HOW should NCAC grow in

states?

With WHOM?

• Focus on penetration of prioritized current states and selective growth in higher priority new states

• Advisers deployed in clusters within reach of partners• To ensure mix of urban and rural coverage in states

• Single or multiple stand alone universities is preferred growth model to ensure accountability

• University system and/or consortium are secondary options and only when complexities can be managed

• Flagship/prestigious universities within state is preferred • Public universities are preferred; private schools selected

when prestigious and/or can build out areas not served

• To be eligible partners must:

— Demonstrate broad-based university support

— Locate program within visible department with influential program champion

— Enforce critical program elements

— Grow to a minimum of one module (i.e. 16 advisers)

— Meet funding requirements

— Sign MOUs with stated commitments

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Classification criteria identified higher priority current and new states

Source: Bridgespan analysis

• North Carolina

• Georgia

• Illinois

• California

• Pennsylvania

• Utah

• New York

• Ohio

• Texas

• Washington

• Colorado

• Florida

• Michigan

Pursue greater penetration in current states

Pursue new partnerships in higher priority states

NCAC to focus resources on prioritized states (e.g., funding, travel, and assistance)

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Proposed NCAC partnership MOU

•Outcomes– Focus on fit as well as

enrollment– Promote enrollment in 4- or 2-

year colleges

•Beneficiaries– Focus on 9-12 th graders who

stand to most benefit from college access services

•Adviser selection and placement

– Recruit college grads no more than 25 years old with a passion for public service

– Diversity is consistent with communities served

– Serve high schools with high need

– High school MOU established and monitored

– One school assigned per adviser

– Advisers located within three hours driving time from program director

•Length of commitment– University to implement program for at least three years

•Growth Path– Plan and implement growth based on clustering path and growth

targets agreed with National

•Organizational alignment and resources– Program located within influential department/office– Program champion reports directly to provost/chief academic officer

or president/chancellor – Full-time program director assigned to day-to-day management – Minimum scale of 16 advisors to 1 program director achieved over

two years– Development staff to obtain external funding sources to meet

partner financial commitment

•Funding– Locally fund minimum of 60% of program expenses each year– Fund six-month planning phase

•Other – Provide office space, equipment, and telecommunications support – Publicize partnership through university communications/PR– Comply with reporting requirements and ongoing data collection– Contribute learnings to national knowledge management system

Model “non-negotiables” Operational commitments

Documents

National College Advising Corps (NCAC)