College Visions works to combat a racist educational system, but CV students face many structural oppressions that we cannot fix. We exist to support students who want to earn college degrees and face a multitude of challenges due to the structural systems that tell them they are unworthy and not enough. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, 3 Black individuals whose deaths were at the hands of those who were supposed to protect them. It is no question that racism and police brutality affect our Black community at disproportionately high rates. It is no question that still to this day, there is work that needs to be done to demand justice for Black Lives. College Visions stands with our Black students, families, and community in demand of that justice. We see you, we hear you and we will fight with you.
COVID-19: How the Pandemic Impacts Low-income College Students
Abrupt campus closures have brought national attention to the plight of low-income college students. For many CV students, financial aid provides not only tuition support but also food and housing. CV is working to provide for the emotional, academic, and basic needs of RI youth. This spring and in the coming years, young people and their families may need extra help to stay focused on college and the longterm benefits that I degree can bring to individuals, families, and communities. CV is committed to providing that help!
For more information on the state of low-income college students, please check out the articles below:
College Made Them Feel Equal. The Virus Exposed How Unequal Their Lives Are.
The Coronavirus Class Divide: Space and Privacy
No Emergency Aid for DACA Students
The Real Lesson of the College Closures
Pandemic Has Forced Graduating Seniors to Reconsider College Choices
Advising Undocumented Students in Rhode Island for College Access
Our mission at College Visions is to empower low-income and first-generation college-bound students to realize the promise of higher education by providing advising and resources to promote college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. College Visions advances equal access to educational opportunities in historically under-served communities.
At College Visions, we believe our work is an embodiment of our core values:
– Empathetic, compassionate, and transformative relationships drive strong organizations.
– Equity creates strong communities.
– In our community we honor the voice, agency, and identities of all.
– Success means reaching our goals through hard work, failure and growth.
We live and operate through these values daily within our two core programs, the College Access Program (CAP) and the Kolajo Paul Afolabi College Success Program (CSP).
The College Access Program provides the intensive, individualized advising that closes the gap between college aspirations and college enrollment for first-generation, low-income students. Students are provided with one-on-one admissions advising, college knowledge workshops, campus visits, family engagement opportunities, access to technology, financial aid coaching.
The College Success Program provides our college students and graduates of CAP with continued support through college. Students are provided with one-on-one coaching, college success workshops, connection with on-campus resources, transfer coaching, financial aid renewal assistance, and access to our emergency grant fund.
Both of our programs are free to our students and are supplemented with providing social-emotional support for our students. At College Visions, we understand that the journey to and through college can be met with many different challenges, as well as the great successes, especially for first-generation low-income students. We are proud to be a resource for our students, help them navigate through different challenges, and celebrate their accomplishments.
Tina Meetran
College Access Program Director
College Visions
CLICK HERE to download the guide: Advising Undocumented Students in Rhode Island for College Access, 2019-2020
NCAN Supports First-Generation Students!!
The National College Access Network (NCAN) will be supporting College Visions students as they persist through college to earn their degrees! Just like CV, NCAN’s overarching goal for this project is to increase the rate at which low-income, first-generation students graduate from college. To read more about this opportunity awarded to 12 NCAN-member organizations, click here.
