OPINION: The push to help 50,000 more low-income students get degrees
On paper, Jorge Salcedo looked like a great candidate for a highly selective college. But, like many of his high school friends in Fishers, Indiana, he assumed he’d be attending the local community college. That’s what his Mexican-immigrant parents could afford.
In his junior year of high school, his counselor suggested he apply for a college-prep program. That, plus the dedicated help of a free coach from CollegePoint, a service for talented low-income students, led him to the University of Chicago, all-expenses paid — including rental textbooks, food and stipends for summer internships.
He’s keenly aware that his trajectory in life could now be very different. “A lot of people don’t even know it’s a possibility,” he says of peers who have little wealth or are the first in their family to consider attending college.