2019 PBN Business Excellence Awards
EXCELLENCE AT A SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCY: The College Crusade of Rhode Island
THE COLLEGE CRUSADE of Rhode Island recently finished a successful year of bolstering graduation rates among 4,000 low-income students in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket, Cranston and West Warwick.
In the last five years, the organization reported that its students’ high school graduation rate increased from 70% to 89% and saw college graduation rates climb from 69% to 83%.
The College Crusade of Rhode Island was also recently honored with the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2019 Community Leadership Award, adding to the many accolades the organization has received in its 30-year history.
“It’s been a good 2019,” said Andrew Bramson, the organization’s CEO and president.
The organization was also a model for the U.S. Department of Education’s GEAR UP initiative in 1997 and has designed, implemented and administered Rhode Island’s GEAR UP program for more than 20 years.
The organization has recorded an 80% return rate for enrolled students each year.
“Our students spend, really, 11 years with us,” Bramson said, noting that it is a significant accomplishment. “Eleven years is a long time, especially in the eyes of someone who’s 12 years old.”
The longevity of students in the program speaks to the value of the aid the organization provides students and their families, Bramson said.
College Crusade has placed 29 advisers across 37 schools in Rhode Island to offer individual advising, out-of-school programming, family-engagement workshops, and college scholarship support to provide students with the help they need to make it to – and through – college.
Completing college with a marketable four-year degree is still an effective path to a better quality of life, even with a new awareness developing about trade schools and the demand for people to pursue blue-collar careers. College Crusade emphasizes this to its students. Earning that degree is a crucial goal for many of their students’ families.
“Generally, in a good economy, people begin to look at the value of a college degree differently,” Bramson said.
‘What we’re trying to do is level the playing field for our students.’
ANDREW BRAMSON, College Crusade of Rhode Island CEO and president
About 95% of College Crusade students identify as students of color, and all come from families whose income qualifies them for free and reduced lunch at the time of enrollment. But the organization makes sure their students are aimed at a target that will reward their hard work with a meaningful career, which will support both a livelihood and the ability to pay off college loans.
“You have to have a reasonable expectation of, if I go into that field, will I pay that [student debt] off,” Bramson said.
The organization also coaches families in applying for financial aid, since many are navigating that system for the first time.
“What we’re trying to do is level the playing field for our students,” Bramson said.
College Crusade also coaches its students on SAT test preparation in order to be ready for college. Advisers can help students increase their scores by up to 120 points in some cases, Bramson said, potentially offering greater educational opportunities.
“A student who can go from a 950 to an 1100 all of a sudden has a whole new set of options,” he said.
English vocabulary is a significant challenge for many of College Crusade’s students on the SATs, particularly for those who didn’t grow up hearing the language in regular household use.
“If they’re seeing [certain words] for the first time [during a test], it’s a challenge,” Bramson said, also noting that the organization plans to bring new communities into the fold.
College Crusade isn’t just helping families with low incomes increase their lots in life. Growing the economy depends on a skilled, educated workforce, Bramson said.
“The only way we can do that is for people to get degrees,” he said.
