Application Campaigns to Promote Postsecondary Success

RISE partner schools are committed to preparing students for what comes after high school. Through our shared mission, RISE works to ensure all students not only graduate from high school, but have a meaningful postsecondary plan and the skills and confidence to pursue college and career success. But it’s not that simple! The postsecondary application process can be daunting and overwhelming for students, families, and counselors with so many complex steps and application milestones.

RISE partner high schools work together to ensure all students establish goals, and then schools organize application campaigns to support and track student progress relative to key access milestones. For example, students planning to enroll in a trade/technical program or two/four-year college, must submit an application and should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Explaining the experience from a student’s perspective, Roja, a senior at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, said, “The biggest factor that was intimidating was getting all these steps done because you just see a large list of things that you need to do.”

McMahon’s College and Career Coordinator, Ari Meadows, describes, “This is a super important time in an individual’s life. The transition out of high school, students figuring out who they are and finding themselves.”

McMahon formed a team of counselors, administrators, and teachers to work together to understand students’ plans, track student data, and provide personalized support to help students achieve their plans. Specifically, McMahon studied their data and noticed a drop in FAFSA completion rates in 2020-21 as a result of the pandemic. McMahon formed a FAFSA Task Force where staff are assigned to a specific caseload of students, and then work with their students and families to overcome barriers to completing the FAFSA. In addition to the personalized support, Mc- Mahon is celebrating students who complete the FAFSA through laptop raffles and schoolwide events, promoting a college-going culture. FAFSA completion rates so far in 2021-22 are outpacing last year’s rates by five percentage points.

Roja described the support she’s received as she prepares for the postsecondary transition: “Honestly, having the support to back me up in going forward with this process was the biggest thing that gave me the assurance that I could do really well in college.”