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 approximately 7,000 students in 30 high schools in 13 districts.
Including the 2009-2010 school year, College Summit West Virginia has served more than 14,000 students. 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
Rockefeller Encourages Students
“They’ve got so much spirit there. Do they know how good they are and how great they can become, or has someone already started putting limits on what they can be?"
> Read moreGeneration Charleston focusing on scholarships, workshops
Generation Charleston, a committee of the Charleston Area Alliance, has chosen College Summit as its year-long cause.
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Don Cheadle College Summit Founding Spokesman
Learn more about College Summit by watching this informational video.