College Summit works to increase the college enrollment rates of low-income students in the National Capital Region and across the country by building capacity within school districts to guide all students through the college preparation and application process.

College Summit has its roots in the National Capital Region. In 1993, J.B. Schramm, co-founder and CEO, directed a teen center in the basement of a Washington, DC housing project. There he came into contact with smart, capable and determined young people who did not see college as an option. Recognizing a critical public sector and market failure, J.B. founded College Summit to address this gap.

During the 2010-11 school year, over 3,600 students in the National Capital Region- including almost 1,800 9th-11th graders, 1,800 seniors, and over 250 Peer Leaders at 22 high schools in the District of Columbia, Prince George's County and Baltimore City, Maryland, and Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia- will benefit from College Summit's curriculum.

In 2010 College Summit-National Capital Region (NCR) was pre-selected by Venture Philanthropy Partners as a grantee of youthCONNECT, a pioneering and powerful network that aligns public-private capital, evaluation experts, and innovative nonprofit organizations to dramatically improve the life opportunities of vulnerable youth.

youthCONNECT is one of eleven awardees of the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a national competitive grant program designed to help identify and scale effective and innovative non-profits working to address some of the nation's most critical social issues. youthCONNECT will demonstrate that the complex challenges of low-income youth can be addressed in the National Capital Region through an integrated, networked approach that can be expanded both regionally and nationally. Its partners are committed to addressing the education and employment needs of an estimated 20,000 youth ages 14-24 in the National Capital Region over five years.