BeyondAdmissions

BeyondAdmissions™ uses principles of social entrepreneurship to create ongoing, affordable, and easily accessible support to address the challenges students encounter in college and uses a portion of its fees to provide free in-kind services to those less fortunate. Colleges and universities, constrained by shrinking budgets, increasingly find it necessary to limit support services leaving many undergraduates almost entirely reliant on their family and social connections for guidance. Navigating academics, social life, finances, physical and mental health, work, family responsibilities, commuting and/or on-campus living at any college or university more often than not overwhelms both students and their families. These stressors intensify for first generation college students, students of color, low income students, recently emancipated foster youth, veterans, LGBTQ students, students with disabilities, non-traditional students, students with dependents, and students raised in households where the predominant culture does not reflect the Eurocentric norms on which most American postsecondary institutions were founded. Acceptance into college simply provides an opportunity for social and economic advancement; but in order to maximize this opportunity, students need adequate support throughout the college experience to help ensure successful completion of the process. Those lucky enough to have a personal support network often feel reluctant to ask for help when the expectations of family or friends differ from their own aspirations, and those with no personal support network frequently avoid asking for help for fear of looking like they do not belong. By incorporating principles of civic engagement to build community partnerships at high schools, postsecondary institutions and local businesses, BeyondAdmissions™ empowers families and community members to best prepare its youth for college success.