Supporting College Assistance Program Counselors

College accessibility is one of the keys to success for our students, providing them with the opportunity to explore higher education beyond our K-12 system if they so choose. Our district must set up students for success within the college application process, allowing them to achieve their dreams, while understanding the financial and procedural considerations associated with the college application process. For marginalized communities, the importance of understanding the resources provided to low-income and minority students in the application process, such as scholarships and financial aid, ensure that the prospect of college can become an affordable reality. In pursuing these goals, our College Assistance Program counselors serve a key role in ensuring our students’ success. These counselors represent a pillar in the pursuit of equity, providing students with a roadmap for the college process and the benefits associated with attending college. Our CAP counselors are essential resources for students to understand the complexities of college applications; as such, we must provide our CAP counselors with all of the necessary resources to assist our students. We must expand the current systems in place, through websites and other technology, to allow for easier tracking of student progress in the application process. This will ensure that our CAP counselors have a more holistic understanding of how students fare in the application process, providing them information beyond what can be obtained in a meeting. Our county must dedicate the resources to providing our CAP counselors with the most updated materials and technological tools available. In promoting a more equitable county, one which provides our students with an attainable path to higher education and the workplace, CAP counselors play an incomparable role. As a district, it is our responsibility to provide them with every tool possible to help them guide our students to success.