The Missouri College Advising Corps (MCAC; http://mcac.missouri.edu/) partners with high schools that have college-going rates below the statewide average and high proportions of low-income, first-generation-to-college, and underrepresented students - those at the greatest risk of not considering, enrolling in, or completing college. To accomplish the goal of increasing college-going rates in its partner high schools, MCAC college advisers plan and provide opportunities and activities to increase college-going behavior: campus tours, campus rep visits, one-on-one advisement, presentations on college-going processes, ACT registration and prep assistance, and outreach to parents, to name a few. Your gift will help provide each adviser with a program planning budget for these activities.
Many advisees explain that they would not be in or have completed college without the assistance and support of the MCAC college adviser. Ryane Boyd is one such example. She wanted to attend college but didn’t know how to choose the right one. Boyd’s school had partnered with MCAC and her adviser helped her arrange campus tours, prepare for the ACT and fill out the federal student aid paperwork. Boyd became the first person to go to college in her family and now as a 2014 Mizzou graduate, she is the first MCAC advisee to become an adviser.
By donating to MCAC, you can help change the life of students, like Ryane, by setting them on the college-going path. This program positively influences the future of the individual students, but may impact the world. The cure to diseases or the ability to affect societal change may reside in the untapped potential of our next freshman class, but every student needs access to the resources available to attend college.