Impact of the Pittsburgh Admissions Collaboration Program in Low-Income Middle School Students of Higher Achievement

Abstract

Pittsburgh Admissions Collaboration Program (PAC) is a partnership between Pittsburgh Public Schools, the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), and the University of Pittsburgh. The program offers mentoring, college programming, and university tours beginning in middle school. This program has partnered up with Higher Achievement, an after-school academy program for low-income middle school students, with the goal of closing the opportunity gap and increase enrollment in higher education. The hypothesis of this research is that the partnership of Higher Achievement with PAC will greatly increase the exposure of these students to college by providing them the opportunity to attend motivational lessons on a college campus. This research evaluates the impact of this new partnership through pre- and postprogram surveys and observation of the mentoring sessions.