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The Carolina College Advising Corps is celebrating North Carolina College Application Week (CAW) by doing what it does best – working with partner schools and helping seniors apply to colleges that will serve them well.

CAW runs from Nov. 10-14 and is sponsored by the University of North Carolina General Administration, the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC), and the Carolinas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (CACRAO). It aims to provide every graduating high school senior the opportunity to apply to college online through CFNC.org. All 110 North Carolina colleges and universities accept the College Board fee waiver in lieu of an application fee, for students who qualify.

The application week puts special focus on students who would be the first in their families to attend college and students who may have not otherwise seriously considered attending college, a mission at the heart of the Corps.

Funded by grants and private gifts and based in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Corps places advisers in schools in counties with heavy populations of low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students. Advisers are close in age and circumstance to the students they serve, and the Corps aims to increase college-going rates at partner high schools. Last year, the Corps helped 4,110 high school seniors submit more than 16,000 applications to college.

“The work of the Corps is more important than ever to the prosperity of our state,” said Yolanda Keith, Carolina College Advising Corps director. “By the year 2018, 59 percent of all North Carolina jobs will require postsecondary education and projections show that only 44 percent of our state’s population will have a college degree by this time. But we’re thrilled that the Corps is already making a difference with college enrollment rates up to 11 percent higher in our partner schools than in comparison schools. We are so grateful to our partner schools for welcoming our advisers into their schools. Our collaboration with the staff—counselors, faculty, staff and principals—is paramount to our continued success.”

Advisers work with counselors, teachers, and administrators to arrange for every senior to participate in CAW. Whether in group or individual meetings, advisers are ensuring every graduating senior will have a chance to submit their college application for free. But the momentum doesn’t stop at hitting “submit”; seniors will then move through stations to receive follow-up information on sending test scores and transcripts and applying for scholarships.

For 2014-15, 42 advisers are serving 59 high schools in 22 counties, growing from just 31 advisers in 55 high schools and 19 counties last year. The expansion was made possible through support from the John M. Belk Endowment and the College Advising Corps (the Carolina College Advising Corps’ national partner).

Published November 10, 2014