SF Promise
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Guaranteeing College to Every 6th Grader
Mayor Newsom passing out SF Promise certificates to school children
A new initiative launched by Mayor Newsom, in collaboration with San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and San Francisco State University (SF State), SF Promise guarantees access to a college education to all students in SFUSD. Currently only thirty percent of San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) students who are admitted to college attend, and half fail to graduate primarily due to socioeconomic obstacles.
Prompted by Mayor Newsom’s desire to assure all San Francisco children get a college education, the City, San Francisco Unified School District and San Francisco State University developed the SF Promise to assure all sixth graders in our public school are afforded every opportunity to attend a four year college.
SF Promise seeks to bridge both the financial gap and to provide a heightened level of proactive counseling about the offer of guaranteed access and how to prepare to succeed with it, including programs on all levels from 7th grade through junior year at SF State.
The funding gap for most students is about $12,000 this next year, or about 70% annually.
SF Promise is focused on doubling the number of SFUSD students who attend college from 400 to 800 and increase graduation rates by over sixty percent. Ninety percent of SFUSD enrollees at SF State are people of color. The following is a list of frequently asked question about SF Promise, brief summary of the program and a few things to keep in mind when attempting to create a similar program in your community, and a list of stakeholders to keep in mind throughout the process.
FAQs
What does each institution commit to do?
San Francisco State University promises that all SFUSD students who successfully complete minimum college preparatory requirements will be offered admission and financial assistance if they qualify.
Isn’t San Francisco State already an affordable college?
The current total cost to attend SF State is $17,000 including tuition and fees, books, housing and personal expenses. The majority of enrollees from SFUSD, due to their dire economic circumstances, will receive state loans and grants to cover most tuition and fees, today about $5,000 per year. The funding gap for most students is about $12,000 this next year, or about 70% annually. Even with most SFUSD students being eligible for financial aid, currently only 30% of SFUSD students who are accepted to SF State actually enroll. Of those who enroll, only 50% graduate at all.
How much is this going to cost my city?
It takes approximately $1.1 million per year to run SF Promise. The funds come partially from the city, the school district and the university. This money covers administrative staff, outreach, counseling, and program development. This does not include any fundraising for scholarships that will be made available to students once they complete the program and commit to San Francisco State University.
How is the program funded?
SF Promise’s operational budget is funded by the City and County of San Francisco, grants from the federal government, San Francisco State University, and private funders. Mayor Newsom contributed $500,000 of city funds to the program in the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
How should the university be involved in performing outreach?
The core SF Promise community outreach program is Success Through Opportunity Motivation and Promise (STOMP). Through STOMP, SF State graduate and undergraduate students are trained to mentor prospective SF State enrollees who are still in middle school. Mentees seek culturally relevant advice about college, career and developmental concerns. Most SF State students involved in STOMP attended the city’s public schools and are expressly motivated to return to support students who might follow in their footsteps. There are currently waiting lists of both SF State and middle school students who want to participate.
How are different aspects of the program doing today?
College Entrance Exams:
- All 4000 – 8th graders have taken the ACT Explore – ACT has done parent information nights at 7middle schools and Staff Development around ACT Explore in 8 middle schools.
- All 10th graders have taken the PSAT
- Working with Counselors and Gear Up Coordinators to create a college going culture in middle schools.
- Working directly with High School counselors to guarantee that every eligible applicant from SFUSD is admitted. We are providing direct support to counselors to ensure that each student’s application is complete by the deadline.
A- G requirements:
- Conducted training for Parent Liaisons on how to do a parent workshop on A-G requirements.
- Conducted training for after school providers to do parent workshop on A-G requirements.
- Created print media with an urban flare to exhibit, educate and attract students to the “A-G” requirements.
Parnterships with CBOs:
- Facilitated partnership with Gear Up and Aim High to have 100 students attend Aim High at SFSU Summer 2008.
- Partnered with Computers for Youth to provide computers for 6th and 7th grade families at Horace Mann.
- Worked with Calfee School Guide to create a Middle School guide to support the selection of the right middle school for families.
- Calfee school guide’s 8th grade curriculum is being used in middle schools to facilitate the selection of the right high school for students.
- Working with Pearson Foundation and the Gap to create new 9th grade college career curriculum to be piloted next year.
- Working with the SF Education Fund to develop a partnership to support 1,500 high school students through their first year of college through a Public Education Network grant.
- Partnering with UC Berkeley and UCSF to provide college counseling services in 6 high schools in 2009.
- Worked with Stanford Alumni group to plan ECAP event.
San Francisco State Activities:
- 720 SFUSD students have spent the day at San Francisco State University hearing from current students, eating in the dining hall, doing experiments in the Biology lab and getting the feel for what it’s like to be on campus at SF State.
- 120 middle schoolers are being mentored by SFSU students – most of whom attended SFUSD.
Scholarships for SF Promise participants:
Starting this spring, the “SF Promise Scholarship Fund” was established at SF State to support the work of SF Promise and the promise of financial assistance to those students who need it the most.
Process
1. Decide the approach
SF Promise gives middle school students the resources they need to succeed in high school and go on to college. As long as students meet the requirements set forth by their SF Promise Coordinator and San Francisco State University (SFSU), they may receive a grant that covers up to 100% of their college expenses if they choose to attend SFSU.
Develop a scope and goal for your program. Things to consider include the size of the school district, student demographics, partner universities, and program offerings. Will the program guarantee admission and financial aid for those that quality? Will there be more requirements to obtain admission and scholarship besides the current admission requirements for the selected university?
2. Discuss with stakeholders
Develop an executive summary for your program and present separately to stakeholders at the school district, university, and city government (mayor, supervisor). This is one of the most important pieces during the implementation process. Support from the three entities will be crucial in pushing the program forward.
After getting a better understanding of what each group can do, adjust your program accordingly and call for a joint meeting with all three entities. During the meeting, each side should express their commitment to the program and outline the services they can provide. What will each entity contribute? What standards must students be held to in order to qualify for the program? Who is going to lead the fundraising effort? The meeting will be very important in convincing all parties to agree on the program’s structure. A solid foundation will put your program on a path for success.
3. Study your options
Reach out to organizations that focus on getting students into college and study their program’s model. Pay specific attention to how they use mentors, counselors, and parents to encourage students to do well in school. Do they provide their services before, during, or after school? How much time outside of school do students have to commit to the program? These are just some of the questions you may want to bring to the forefront of the conversation. Interview college students that had help from college prep programs to help identify a few best practices.
Develop the program using recommendations from the school district, partner universities, college prep program specialists, and city government. Use the best practices from the college prep programs to fill in any gaps. The main outreach program in San Francisco is geared towards putting middle school students on the path to college. Some community based organizations can help outreach to high school students if there are only a few programs helping students get into college.
4. Identify sponsor, introduce legislation, and build support
Depending on the program you want to implement, legislation by the school district and the city may be necessary. Legislation may be used to specify sources of funding for your program or required staff levels. The city government, university, and school district should publically express support for the program. This may help once the university begins fundraising for the program.
5. Implement
Build an implementation team to help the newly created executive director implement the program. Your program’s structure will determine the size of your staff. You may want to consider using community based organizations and college prep programs already in place to help guide and mentor students on top of any new service you might provide. College students will also be a key group to target for mentors and tutors.
6. Monitor and Evaluate
SF Promise’s core program begins monitoring students in middle school and follows their progress as they go onto high school and eventually apply to college. College mentors keep track of a student’s progress and provide guidance throughout the college application process.
Create metrics that monitor your target population. Metrics may include GPA, extra curricular activities, and enrollment in college prep or honors courses. Metrics will allow mentors and tutors to focus their efforts on improving their student’s weaknesses.
Stakeholders
- AVID Program
- College-Prep Programs
- San Francisco State University
- San Francisco Unified School District
Toolkit
Download the SF Promise toolkit in pdf format
Download Adobe Reader to view toolkit
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