The Missouri College Advising Corps is Unique
MCAC college adviser Cherelle Washington assists
Natasha Mills in her college application process. Natasha
is currently a freshman at the University of Missouri (MU).
In 2007, the University of Missouri at Columbia (MU) successfully competed for a four-year, $1 million grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to establish the Missouri College Advising Corps (MCAC), a college-access advising program.
MCAC hires recent MU graduates to work in 25 partner high schools across Missouri to empower Missouri students to go to college and succeed. MCAC partner schools have high percentages of first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students at risk of not going to college. MCAC college advisers help students understand that they can complete a college degree, find their “best fit” postsecondary institution, and navigate the process of applying for admission and financial aid. Advisers are immersed in the school and are available to guide students through the college planning and preparation, applications, and financial aid processes.
The Missouri College Advising Corps helps Missouri students who may not have otherwise gone to college. Activities provided by MCAC are unique from those generally provided by other college access programs:
- Working alongside counselors, MCAC college advisers who are themselves recent college graduates model that college is within reach and, because of this near-peer approach, uniquely interact with students.
- While many college access programs use adults in advising roles, or provide part-time services from off-site, MCAC college advisers devote full-time attention to college advising and are immersed in the setting.
- MCAC advisement is made available to all students in the school.
- MCAC helps students find their “best fit” postsecondary institution.
- MCAC concentrates its efforts in both urban and rural areas of the state.
The 1st Annual College Ambassador Leadership Institute was held April 13, 2012 on the MU campus. In attendance were 165 students, 32 school representatives, and 16 MU student presenters (MU presenters not included in the photo). Ambassadors participated in leadership sessions presented by MU students, ate in the dining hall, toured the campus and bookstore, heard a presentation about college admissions, and talked with a panel of current MU students. Ambassadors are 11th graders who are being intensively advised on college planning and also helping to conduct early college outreach with underclass and middle school students.
Contact Us
Missouri College Advising Corps
Dr. Beth Tankersley-Bankhead
University of Missouri
46 Jesse Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
phone: 573-884-1928
fax: 573-882-5515
tankersleybankheaea@missouri.edu
I have heard nothing but positive remarks about the MCAC program from school counselors working in the high schools where MCAC advisers are serving the needs of low-income and underrepresented students. They appreciate that these well trained near-peer advisers—enthusiastic, bright, and dedicated recent graduates—are extending their own reach by providing help to deserving students when their own resources are stretched so thin. It truly is a win-win situation for school counselors, [MCAC college] advisers, and above all, the students.
— Dr. Bragg Stanley, Director, Guidance and Placement, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Dan Rather report on college access