MA College and Career Access Portal Announces Rapid Growth
Posted on Wed, Jun 06, 2012 @ 08:51 AM
During the Massachusetts College and Career Planning Summit, YourPlanForCollege.org announced more than doubling student engagement in just one year.
YourPlanForCollege.org, Massachusetts' college and career access portal powered by ConnectEDU technologies, released information about the site's expansion from 60,000 students in early 2011 to more than 140,000 today. YourPlanForCollege.org has also doubled the number of schools in its network, now with more than 140 schools from all corners of the Commonwealth.
The summit also featured the perspectives on postsecondary planning of school administrators, counselors, business leaders and policymakers. The day’s speakers and panelists all identified the need to align K12, postsecondary and workforce programs across the Commonwealth to better support learners in their school-to-college-to-career transitions.
Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray started the day with a welcome address in which he applauded the growth of YourPlanForCollege.org, including in 23 of 24 Gateway Cities, midsize cities with household income and education attainment rates below the state average. Improvement of college readiness and achievement gaps within these Gateway Cities is a critical priority of Governor Deval Patrick’s latest education reform initiative. YourPlanForCollege.org represents a larger percentage of minority and low-income students than Massachusetts as a whole and is active in 21 vocational technical high schools.
The Summit’s keynote address was delivered by JD Hoye, President of the National Academy Foundation (NAF), who discussed NAF’s career-themed academy model, which leverages career-themed curricula and public-private partnerships to connect the dots between school, college and career success.
At the intersection of school, college and career planning, YourPlanForCollege.org is uniquely positioned to serve as a tremendous resource toward supporting student success and cultivating a pipeline of talent ready to fill the jobs of tomorrow.
The event was hosted by YourPlanForCollege.org in partnership with the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education and Joint Committee on Higher Education – Representative Alice Peisch, Senator Michael Moore and Representative Thomas Sannicandro.
To view a full agenda of the Massachusetts College & Career Planning Summit or to learn more about ConnectEDU’s work in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, please visit YourPlanForCollege.org.
Written by Jess Begen, photo by Cullen Winkler