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Philadelphia Education Fund College Access Program	Philadelphia Education Fund College Access Program 7 Benjamin Franklin Parkway Suite 7000 Philadelphia , PA, 19103 P: 215-665-1400 ext. 3336 F: 215-864-2494 www.philaedfund.org

Populations Served

Academically at-risk
Average Academic Performers
Elementary school students
ESL students
First generation to attend college
High school students
Middle school students
Non-traditional
Students/families with limited financial resources
Underrepresented minorities

Services Offered

Career counseling/job placement/internships
College admissions guidance and counseling
College campus visits
College success and retention support
Early college awareness and prep
Experiential Learning
Financial aid counseling
Leadership development
Parent/family services
SAT/ACT and other test prep
Scholarships & last dollar grants

Contact

Thomasenia Amos
Director, College Access Program
tamos@philaedfund.org

Program Description
The Philadelphia Education Fund's College Access Program provides college-going awareness and readiness services to over 3,000 students each year who are enrolled in 21 middle and high schools in the School District of Philadelphia. Services to students can begin as early as the 6th grade and continue through the senior year of high school. These services include guiding middle school students through career awareness and study skills development, college and career workshops, one-on-one advising and counseling, college visits, assisting with all aspects of financing college, and helping school faculty create a school-wide college going culture.

The College Access Program also directs three community-based centers – located in North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and the Gallery Shopping Mall in Center City – that serve a population of adult and school-aged college-bound individuals from the community at large. At the Centers, College Access Coordinators provide guidance and access to college reference materials, computer labs, financial aid and scholarship information, on-line “virtual” campus tours, and standardized testing information for over 6,000 students and city residents each year.

Organization History
The roots of the Philadelphia Education Fund can be traced to 1985, when the city’s business, foundation and university communities created Philadelphia Alliance for Teaching Humanities in the Schools (PATHS)/Philadelphia Renaissance in Science and Mathematics (PRISM). PATHS/PRISM worked in collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia to increase access and rigor to humanities and science/math education for K-12 students. During the same period, the Philadelphia Schools Collaborative (the Collaborative) was created by the District to focus on high school reform. In a strategic decision to unify two organizations working toward similar goals, PATHS/PRISM and the Collaborative merged in 1995 to form the Philadelphia Education Fund, resulting in a stronger entity that joined the national Public Education Network (PEN), and came to occupy a significant role in Philadelphia schools and later in the surrounding region.

Partners and Supporters
Multiple forms of funding including foundation, corporate and individual donor funds.