ASU's new Future Sun Devil Families program to launch
Beginning this week ASU Future Sun Devil Families initiative will help more Arizona students and families prepare for college. Participants will attend monthly interactive workshops throughout the academic year and learn how to navigate the process to pursue a college degree and receive financial aid.
Future Sun Devil Families workshops take place seven times during the academic year, are available at no cost to families and offer classes in English and Spanish. Workshops are designed to guide students and parents through the college application process in an interactive co-learning environment.
This year, the program is geared toward ninth-grade students and their parents, to give them an early start with college preparation and offer guidance on how to be successful in high school. Additional grades will be added each year and students can participate throughout their high school career. Students and at least one parent are encouraged to attend the free monthly workshops at their local high schools. ASU is targeting ninth-grade students because starting early with college preparation is critical to their success. The program will also offer guidance to students on how to be successful in high school.
Workshops begin this month throughout October 2013 at the following ASU partner high schools:
Oct. 1 Dobson High School
Oct. 2 Cesar Chavez High School
Oct. 15 ASU Preparatory -- Phoenix
Oct. 16 Carl Hayden High School
Oct. 16 Trevor Browne High School
Oct. 17 ASU Preparatory -- Polytechnic
Oct. 17 Marcos De Niza High School
Oct. 22 McClintock High School
Oct. 22 Skyline High School
Oct. 29 Alhambra High School
Oct. 30 North High School
Monthly Future Sun Devil Family meetings will be held at each of the schools listed above.
Participants are still being accepted for the fall. For more information and to register for the program visit: https://www.asu.edu/futuresundevils
Donna Snyder is one parent among hundreds who graduated from the innovative new program that ASU piloted earlier this year at four schools in the West Valley. Snyder, parent of Andrew Boras, who was a senior at Westview High School, learned how to create a college application portfolio for her son, apply for admission, research scholarship opportunities and more.
“I had no idea how to get my son into college, but Future Sun Devil Families changed all that, and I learned how to navigate the process in a matter of weeks and now he is going to ASU on a Presidential Scholarship,” said Snyder.
“Future Sun Devil Families illustrates ASU President Michael Crow's vision to measure the success of our university not by who we exclude, but by who we include and how they succeed,” said Beatriz Rendon, associate vice president, Educational Outreach and Student Services, Arizona State University.
Many of our partnership schools serve high percentage of low income and underrepresented populations. According to Postsecondary Education, the college participation rate for low-income students is 33.5 percent in Arizona, which is 5 percent below the national average.
Additionally, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
• By graduating from high school, students can add $10,000 more a year to their salary.
• Students who graduate from a university with a bachelor’s degree increase their salaries to nearly $60,000 a year.
“Future Sun Devil Families, in partnership with our high school colleagues, creates a pathway to access the university early and often, ensures that students are university eligible and that families have the tools and resources to support them in that endeavor," added Rendon. "Part of ASU's mission is to assume responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality, and the health and well-being of the community. Future Sun Devil Families is a concrete example of how we fulfill the commitment to working in the community as partners in preparing more Arizona youth for the university,” added Rendon.
Additional information can be found at https://www.asu.edu/futuresundevils
Future Sun Devil Families is an initiative of Access ASU. The mission of Access ASU is to prepare Arizona students to enroll and succeed at ASU.