Expanding Promise: Depicting the Ecosystems of Support and Financial Sustainability for Five College Promise Populations

Abstract

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Wraparound services: Urban and rural college promise case studies

“…As such, for wraparound services to be of utility to College Promise students and families, they should either be offered at no cost to those in the program or as financially accessible level as possible without any extra required paperwork. After all, as Millett et al (2022) argue, "Affordability is only meaningful if it includes having the time and psychological bandwidth to pursue higher education without excessive sacrifice" (p. 57). Colleges are finding value and need for wraparound services too, and not just for Promise students; for example, Portland Community College revised offerings to expand wraparound services to support all students, not just ones in the local College Promise program after first-year funding for the services were cut (Farmer, 2019).…”

“…Wraparound service efforts seek to provide support for items that are beyond the cost of postsecondary education that students might need, so they can focus and succeed when attending college. Thus, these services run the gamut of possibilities to improve student life, and can range from after school programming, job training, dental, mental, and primary health care, English as a Second Language (ESL) or adult literacy classes, to strategies for family engagement programming (Chang, 2011; Millett et al., 2022). These services benefit the student and are also a good long‐term social investment.…”

“…The quality of childcare and wraparound services should be as good as or better than what is available to middle‐income nonstudent families. The wraparound supports, services, and resources provided should be student‐parent and family‐centered, youth‐friendly, nonjudgmental, and of the highest quality (Millett et al., 2022, p. 56).…”