Promoting College Persistence

High quality afterschool programs play a crucial role in helping students to persist and succeed in college with staff who build supportive relationships with students, and youth development framework that fosters whole-person growth.

Summary of Research

As part of the process for developing Partnering for Success: The Role of Afterschool in College Persistence, PASE complied a summary of research document. Topics covered include:

- Factors that Impact Persistence

- Summer Melt

- Consequences of Not Persisting

- Promising Practices/Programs

- Afterschool Program Impact

The report provides an overview of:

• The challenge of college persistence, particularly for low-income, historically underrepresented and/or first generation young people;

• The importance of afterschool programming;

• Factors that support college persistence, including academic preparation and performance, development of social and emotional skills (non-cognitive skills), and college knowledge and advising;

• The stages of students’ lives during which persistence can be supported: middle and high school, the summer before college, and life in college;

• How afterschool can best support students during these life stages including examples of effective and promising practices; and

• Incorporates case studies of community organizations providing high-quality college prep services for their young people in order to support their ability to persist

Partnering for Success: The Role of Afterschool in College Persistence is a report produced by PASE on afterschool’s role in college persistence. Made possible through generous funding from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, along with support and collaboration from a wide variety of partners, the report highlights the transformative and crucial work that afterschool programs can do to support students be successful in higher education.

Promoting College Persistence is supported by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust