EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PRE- COLLEGE OUTREACH PROGRAM AT WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY Kelsey Boyer, Shaylee Wheeler, Christopher Griffith

Research Objectives  To investigate the success of pre-college outreach programs in providing the following among traditionally non-college bound high school seniors:  awareness of college  access to college  exposure to college and campus life  academic preparation for college  and assistance in transitioning to college  To investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the delivery of the pre-college outreach services  To investigate the influence of pre-college outreach programs on students’ decision to go to college

Research Questions  What did the pre-college outreach programs do to achieve the above listed outcomes?  Did the students find the delivery of the services to be effective in accomplishing the outcomes?  Did the provided services influence the students’ decision to go to college?

Background Information: Research from Literature  National survey conducted by College Board in 2001  Programs do in fact get traditionally non-college bound students into higher education more so than without intervention  Programs proven to be effective in terms of college enrollment, although little research has been done to measure the impact of such programs on the students who participate in them  Not much is known regarding the extent to which they are helpful and how they can assist students more effectively

WSU Education and Outreach  Education Access and Outreach Office  Mission: to increase educational opportunities and college participation for underrepresented students who are traditionally non-college bound  Student to Student Provides academic support to students in Ogden city’s middle and high schools through student tutors from WSU  Educational Talent Search Identifies qualified students and encourages them to complete high school and to attend and graduate from college by providing them with the necessary information  Multicultural Youth Conference Conference designed for ethnic minorities that includes workshop sessions on leadership, planning for student success, communication skills, diversity and inclusion, and applying to college

Effect of Pre-College Outreach Program in Ogden City School District  Study of six target schools  The percentage of students who enrolled at Weber State University was higher among outreach program participants than among the student body in general Of the 176 participants in the program, 80 enrolled at Weber State University with an enrollment rate of 45%, as compared to only a 17% enrollment rate among all students in the target schools.

Concepts Defined  Awareness: increased visibility of WSU in local junior high and high schools  Access: providing step-by-step guidance to help students enroll at college  Exposure: interactive experience on college campus in order to know available programs and opportunities  Readiness: ensuring that students are prepared to handle college-level coursework  Transition: following through after enrollment into college to assist the students in their first semester  Traditionally Non-College Bound (TNCB): students that are identified as being low income, first generation, and minority students  Pre-College Outreach Programs: Student to Student, Educational Talent Search, and Multicultural Youth Conference

Subjects for Study  Thirty 2009 high school graduates from both Ogden and Ben Lomond High Schools  Participation in Student to Student, Educational Talent Search, and Multicultural Youth Conference  Twenty-two enrolled at Weber State during 2009 summer semester Made contact and received information from nine students One student did not wish to participate  Eight students not included in study Six did not enroll at any educational institution Were originally going to be comparison group Two enrolled at other educational institutions

Demographic Characteristics  Gender  4 Female  5 Male  Race/Ethnicity  1 African American  3 Caucasian  5 Hispanic  Credit hours enrolled in current fall 2009 semester  1 not enrolled  1 six to eleven  7 twelve to seventeen  Hours of work per week  4 not employed  hours  hours  Living Situation  7 in home with parents  2 off campus housing without parents

Data Collection Methods  Focus Groups  October 27 th and November 4 th in Student Service Center  Pizza and drinks provided  Phone Interviews  November 10 th  All participants received $5 on their Wildcard  All participants were told that all the information they provided would be kept confidential

Measurement of Concepts  Open-ended questions concerning effectiveness and influence of the pre-college outreach programs  Questions framed around five aspects of awareness, access, exposure, readiness, and transition  Did the programs help accomplish each aspect?  What services did the program provide to do so?  Anything that could have been improved?  Did it influence decision to go to college?

Results: Achieving the Outcomes  Awareness  Access  Exposure  Readiness  Transition

Results: Effectiveness of Services  Awareness  “I was into the idea that I wanna get out, I don’t wanna live here…but ETS helped me a lot. You realize that I will be living with my parents and everything will be a lot more affordable.”  Access  “I don’t think without it I would…get any scholarships…so it did help me a lot.”  “I don’t even know how I got enrolled, so it was pretty cool…. I loved the fact that…I was just enrolled.”

Results: Effectiveness of Services  Exposure  “…I would see people going on trips and stuff and everything and [my friends and I] were like, ‘What’s going on? We wanna be in there! We wanna go places.’ That’s actually how I got enrolled. I had no idea what it was about or anything. All I knew is that they would go on field trips.”  Readiness  A respondent who went on to participate with TRIO in his first semester at Weber State said, “…they actually helped me with some stuff academically…they helped me out getting a tutor and now I’m actually doing kinda good.”  One respondent who utilized S-to-S while in high school then was a mentor for it in college said, “When I was in high school I’d say it would probably help me just a little bit…but then for, like, college and everything I don’t think that it…really did very much.”  Another respondent told us, “I felt kinda stressed ‘cause I didn’t do much in high school.”

Results: Effectiveness of Services  Transition  “I actually got a lot of help from everybody.”  “They still talk to me sometimes. Whenever I have questions I just go talk to them.”  Overall  Suggestions included starting the outreach at an earlier age for the students and more communication between students and advisors, but overall the participants we interviews seemed to have a positive reaction to the outreach

Results: Decision to go to College  It was evident that the programs definitely had a positive effect on their decision  Four already planning on going to college  Two wanted to go but didn’t know if they were going to be able to  Two were not planning on going at all  One did not answer

Results: Decision to go to College  Made college a more attainable goal  College education seemed out of reach on several different levels  Respondent who did not know if she was able to go to college: “The whole college thing scared me for a while,” but “[the programs] made it a lot easier…[They] made me want to come more to college.”  Respondent who already knew he wanted to go to college: “…it made me realize that college isn’t really that bad – really isn’t as bad as you think it is.”

Results: Decision to go to College  Being told that college would positively affect their chances of getting a better job  Respondent who was not planning on attending: “They told me that without college, you basically can’t really get a good job after that, so that kinda pushed me to go to college too, ‘cause everyone wants a good job.”  Respondent who was already planning on attending: “They told me how it’s better to get a job if you go to college…you can get a better career. Yeah, it just makes my life easier to go to college.”

Conclusions  The Program was considered to be successful in the following areas:  Availability of financial assistance Any help in this area is invaluable Information regarding financial aid (FAFSA and scholarship help) mentioned often  Excitement for on-campus experiences Great motivating factor

Conclusions  Program Success Continued:  Ease of the enrollment process Stress of enrolling was almost non-existent First big milestone to make college a reality  Affect on decision to attend college Programs do indeed have positive affect on students Although some felt as though there were minor troubles, program came through where it was most important

Conclusions  The Program was considered to have fallen short in these areas:  Preparation for college academics Many did not feel overly confident in their preparedness However, some respondents had not participated in S-to-S  Program Advisors Great influence on students and were held in very high esteem Consistency very important Had strong desire for communication Needed that connection during time of change

Recommendations  Maintenance of positive aspects  Availability of Financial Assistance  On-Campus Experience  Ease of Enrollment  Affect on Decision to Attend College

Recommendations  More focus on academic preparation for college  Encourage Student to Student  More information regarding reality of college coursework  Consistency of program advisors  Students created a bond with their advisor  Communication extremely important  Students are going through a time of change and uncertainty and crave that connection and stability with the person or persons who are guiding them through

Limitations of the Study  Small sample size  Focus groups vs. phone interviews  Depth and length of answers  Differences between focus groups  Social Setting  Gender  Further research would enrich existing data  Follow-up with respondents  Interview other participants

“…Being in these programs really opened my eyes and really showed me that there are really good opportunities for me to be able to go to college still.”