West Virginia
When Energy Corporation of America (ECA) introduced College Summit to Kanawha County, West Virginia in 2001, the goal was to transform college-going in all public high schools serving the state capital, and do so in such a way that sustained the innovation into the future and built a foundation from which the program could spread throughout the state.
Seven years later, College Summit West Virginia and its partners are well on their way to reaching this goal. College Summit West Virginia has grown from a “test pilot” in the summer of 2001, when 10 Kanawha County students attended an out-of-state College Summit workshop to an initiative serving 3,000 students in 22 high schools in 9 districts.
Including the 2008-09 school year, College Summit West Virginia has served a total of 10,000 youth. These students have attended a variety of two-year and four-year institutions of higher education, as well as post-secondary options such as technical training programs and the military. For the last two years, schools have been raising their school-wide college enrollment rates on average by more than 15% over baseline, while the college enrollment rates for low-income students nationwide has increased by only 4%. In 2004, there was a 9% difference in Kanawha County Schools’ in-state enrollment rate versus the state average; 2 years later, after 2 years of College Summit implementation throughout the school system, the difference had increased to 22%.
What's New
"I knew I'd make it to college but i didn't think I'd stay because its so expensive," said Olivia Lester, who will be a senior at Capitol High School this fall. "Money is the major concern. But after this I have so much more hope than I did."
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Don Cheadle College Summit Founding Spokesman
Learn more about College Summit by watching this informational video.