Download or read book Increasing College Enrollment Rates for Low-income Students by Providing Step-by-step College Information written by Kiritika Raj and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The huge disparity in access to education continues to be a critical issue for all low-income students. According to National Center for Education Statistics (2015), the percentage of students expected to earn a bachelor's degree was smaller in 2004 than in 2002 for students that come from low-income families. Low-income students are less prepared for college than their middle/high counterparts, and this means low-income students are less likely to attend college leading to a decrease in college enrollment rates for the population. Research indicates that many low-income students do not enroll in post-secondary education two years after high school (Oseguera & Hwang, 2014). Low enrollment rates for the low-income population is primarily due to both students' and parents' lack of access to and understanding college resources and information such as financial aid, and the application process. Although parents and students are able to gain access to an assortment of resources and college information, the most challenging process for them is evaluating, analyzing and interpreting the information they encountered (Brown, Wohn & Ellison, 2016). In other words, information about the admissions/enrollment, financial aid and more often lack the step-by-step explanation and are presented in a complexed format that is difficult to understand. A workshop was created that focused on providing a step-by-step explanation of all college information such as class requirements, admissions/enrollment process, and financial aid. Furthermore, based on a needs assessment, a college resource handbook was also created that contained easy- to- understand step-by-step explanation of college information. The workshop allowed for parents and students to ask questions and receive one-on-one consultation if desired. The researcher collected program evaluations from parents and students at the end of the workshop in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop and improve future workshops. Evaluations showed that the workshop was effective in providing low-income students and their parents with easy to comprehend college information. The evaluations revealed that students and parents found it to be extremely helpful to have the college resource handbook. The information gained from this workshop will help students be better prepared for the college enrollment process and parents to play an advocate role in the process. The workshop will increase the likelihood of low-income students attending and earning a college degree. Additionally, the effective of this workshop will lead to future workshops with a wider population of students.