The
Missouri College Advising Corps (MCAC; http://mcac.missouri.edu/) partners with
48 high schools across the state with a goal of increasing the college-going
rates for each school. MCAC partner high schools 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. 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, financial aid workshops and FAFSA support, 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. The
mission of MCAC is to “Empower Missouri Students to Go to College and
Succeed.” Over the course of the last 10 years, MCAC has helped over
20,000 Missouri students do just that!
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 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 in her family to go to college,
graduated from Mizzou in 2014, and served as the first (of many) MCAC advisees
who have become advisers with the program.
By donating to MCAC,
you can help change the life of students, like Ryane, by setting them on a
college-going path. This program positively influences the future of individual
students, but also directly impacts entire schools and communities for
generations. 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 necessary to attend college.