In a new spin on the challenge of meeting students where they are, Santa Fe College is serving one student a time, at scale. The SF Achieve initiative offers a unique take on a Promise Program by providing not just financial help, but direct college coaching and mentoring to students in their high schools. College specialists, embedded at local schools everyday throughout the school year, meet with students regularly, get to know them, and help them understand how a college education can serve as a launching pad for their goals and dreams. SF Achieve is literally meeting students where they are to help them see where a college education can take them. The program combines in-school mentorship with a scholarship to tear down students’ real and perceived barriers about higher education. The initiative helps students recognize that college is for them, they can afford it, and they can achieve their goals and set even bigger ones. This dynamic partnership between the college and local schools reinforces for students how much support they really have and encourages them to dream big.

Some students self-select to meet with a college coach; others are referred by their high school counselor. College and high school staff work to identify students who would benefit from information, support, and encouragement around how a college education can align with their career and future goals. In the first three years, nearly half of those participating identified as first-generation students, and more than six out of 10 were students from underserved populations. More than 600 students have enrolled at the college through SF Achieve so far, and 1,100 are currently affiliated with the program at the high school level. Yet, the program considers its efforts successful even if a student chooses to go to a school other than Santa Fe College.

Both counties in our service district have seen increases in postsecondary enrollment since SF Achieve began; our larger, urban county’s college-going rate grew from 53 percent to 56 percent, and our smaller, rural county’s rate increased from 33 percent to 34 percent (Florida Department of Education, 2024). According to our Institutional Research department, while only 31 percent of those graduates enrolled at Santa Fe College in each of the past two years, this is 5 percent higher than any year in the previous decade before SF Achieve began (Gary Hartge, personal communication, November 1, 2024). This focus on a college-going culture helps staff build relationships with students focused on their best interests, not a transaction with the college. Ultimately, one of the primary goals of SF Achieve is to bolster the college-going culture in the college’s service area, which consists of one urban and one rural county. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2023), only 13 percent of residents over the age of 25 in the rural county and 47 percent in the larger, urban county have earned a bachelor’s degree. This underscores the need for a program like SF Achieve to change perceptions about a college education by opening more doors to higher education opportunities.

The college specialists working with students open every door they can, bringing the resources of the college to bear for local schools. Resources range from field trips to campus paid for by the college, conversations with academic program advisors, group and one-on-one sessions with career counselors, a parent outreach program, and regular visits to area middle schools. But SF Achieve applies most of its focus on local high schools. The program equips students with a mentor and coach with whom they can build rapport and trust to help them better understand the value of higher education and how to prepare for success in college. That rapport is critical, as a student and their college coach meet frequently throughout their time in high school to set goals and develop roadmaps to achieve them. Students also complete an online college readiness course to better prepare for college and local schools report students are performing better in high school as a result. In addition, parents are more engaged than ever.

Local students are going to college more than in the past, too. The college has seen local enrollment as a whole rise nearly 11 percent, fueled by first-generation and traditionally underserved students who might not have gone to college at all without SF Achieve. When those students arrive at the college, a staff or faculty mentor is there to meet them. Assigned mentors help the SF Achieve Scholars navigate the college. Rather than answering every question, however, mentors help students figure out for themselves how to find answers and solutions. Having that point of contact seems to be working for students: By SF Achieve’s second year, scholars had a 7 percent higher fall-to-spring persistence rate than other first-time-in-college students. Fall-to-fall retention rates show the SF Achieve group had a 7 percent higher retention rate than all other FTIC students at the college. The program’s initial goal for each was a 5 percent increase. Grade point averages among SF Achieve Scholars also increased 14 percent from 2023 to 2024.The ultimate goal, of course, is graduation, and 70 SF Achieve Scholars have earned a degree or certificate from Santa Fe College.

The SF Achieve scholarship has eliminated scholars’ financial concerns around attending college. Once a student enrolls, a stipend covers the cost of books for all SF Achieve Scholars, and an additional last-dollar scholarship is provided for students with financial need after other financial aid is applied. The program has awarded more than $750,000 to students in its first three years.

SF Achieve could not succeed without Santa Fe College’s close partnership with local school districts. Their evaluations of progress were critical in year one and continue to guide how the college specialists interact with students. School counselors and others in a liaison role cited challenges in how best to connect students with our college coaches. Some of these issues related to an early lack of awareness about the program and on relying on students too much to commit to meeting or signing up. This also revealed that in the initial year, the college did not staff the program at the level that was necessary. Those assessments also revealed that no two high schools are the same, and a more-nimble approach would be necessary to respect each school’s culture and community. Some schools and student groups require short meetings with a specialist, while others might need meetings of varying lengths.

Santa Fe College added more human resources to SF Achieve in its second year once it became clear that key schools and student groups would need more time and attention. A staff increase of 50 percent allowed for caseloads to better align with school and student needs. Recognition that real return on investment for the student and the college required a greater outlay of time and talent was vital to program improvement. College specialists now work in a more integrated way with their assigned schools, participating in school-sponsored activities not just in support of the college and SF Achieve, but as part of the high school community itself. Each school culture is different, and the program has adjusted by incorporating more college readiness and college awareness into what schools are already doing—thus, positioning Santa Fe College as a true partner. Students see that partnership, too, and realize that it is all focused on them. For example, by incorporating a previously separate commitment event for SF Achieve into one high school’s popular field day event, four times as many high school seniors completed the requirement than the previous year. College coaches were also able to engage hundreds of additional underclassmen and middle school students at the same event.

Internally, metrics tracking student sign-ups have been steady, with nearly 2,000 students participating each year, and at least 25 percent of the graduating senior class at participating high schools ultimately enrolling at Santa Fe College upon graduation. But deeper analysis of the first two years showed that the program had not done enough to reach students at more rural high schools, many of whom might not have been considering going to college at all. In addition, too much of the SF Achieve scholarship, which kicks in after other federal and state aid is applied, was left unawarded. After recognizing that too few SF Achieve Scholars, upon enrolling at the college, were receiving the full benefit of the scholarship, changes were made. All SF Achieve students receive the book stipend, but the formula for awarding the additional scholarship was changed so that 50 percent more students could receive additional dollars, and more resources were directed to the college’s rural feeder schools.

While mentorship has proven successful for students and more SF Achieve Scholars enroll, the program needs additional mentors at the college to support them. This continues to be a challenge, as does convincing more students to utilize the mentor program to their advantage while in college. Efforts to incentivize connections between mentors and mentees continue, and those who have connected have succeeded. As noted, retention rates among SF Achieve Scholars are higher than the college’s first time-in-college population as a whole, and GPAs have risen since the first group of Achieve students enrolled. While not a causal link, program administrators believe there is a correlation between student success and a trusted relationship with a mentor. SF Achieve continues to adapt mentorship efforts, working to add academic success coaches as primary mentors for the next cohort of SF Achieve Scholars.

This shift in the mentorship program represents a next step for SF Achieve, which in many ways represents a less evolutionary and more revolutionary step in connecting with prospective students. The pace of change among young people, the needs of their families, and the workforce demands of the local community mean programs like SF Achieve must move quickly. The partnership with schools fueled the program’s initial efforts, but greater involvement with community organizations, local businesses, and other constituents will help determine the program’s next direction. Business connections are particularly valuable to give young people a glimpse of where their career path can take them. This is strategically critical in rural communities. Keeping students, powered with a college degree and ready to enter the local job market or potentially ready to start a business of their own, can bring the impact of SF Achieve full circle. Parents are part of that circle as well. The next version of SF Achieve could offer a book stipend, a scholarship, and a college education to parents without a degree. And that degree can potentially vault those parents on a greater career trajectory, benefiting the local community by lifting them up and providing better trained workers for local businesses.

Regardless of where it goes next, SF Achieve is throwing open doors, breaking down barriers, and establishing a new paradigm: College is more than possible. By combining information and inspiration, SF Achieve is building student aspiration, one student at a time, at scale.

References

Florida Department of Education. (2024). 2023-24 Florida report card. https://edudata.fldoe.org/ReportCards/Schools.html?school=0000&district=00  

U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). QuickFacts Bradford County, Florida; Alachua County, Florida; Florida. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bradfordcountyflorida,alachuacountyflorida,FL

Lead image: Graduating seniors sign letters of intent to attend Santa Fe College.

Quinten Eyman is Director, Recruitment and SF Achieve, at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida.

Opinions expressed in Innovation Showcase are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the League for Innovation in the Community College.