College Now Greater Cleveland

Financial aid: College Now Greater Cleveland awarded scholarships to more than 2,300 traditional age and adult students from the northeast Ohio area through its own scholarship program and through scholarship programs that it manages. Awarded scholarships totaled over $7.5 million in the 2021-2022 academic year. College Now helps to ensure successful transitions to and through the first year of postsecondary enrollment via scholarship and retention services and strengthens postsecondary persistence and completion for its traditional age students through its innovative e-mentoring program. This program is leveraged by about 1,700 community volunteers. On average, College Now traditional students enroll in College at higher rates than students from low-income backgrounds across the country and near the average rate for students from all income backgrounds across the country. College Now's traditional student scholarship recipients graduate from College at significantly higher rates than their peers from low-income backgrounds and above the rates of all us students. Since 1967, College Now has served hundreds of thousands of individuals and awarded some $94.5 million in scholarships to northeast Ohio students and adult learners.

Adult programs and services and the College Now resource centers: in cooperation with about 40 neighborhood-based community partners, at our resource centers in Cleveland and akron, and virtually, College Now Greater Cleveland offered outreach, one-on-one sessions, and small group workshops to serve just more than 8,000 people from across northeast Ohio with a concentration in cuyahoga and summit counties. The resource centers are free and open to the public. Virtual services are also free and open to the public. Core services to adults include College and career access advising, student financial aid and student loan counseling, mentoring, and scholarship services.

Advisory services: College Now Greater Cleveland provided College and career access advising, student financial aid counseling, scholarship, and retention services to over 31,000 northeast Ohio students and individuals in one-on-one and group sessions. During the 2021-2022 academic year, College Now served students virtually and in approximately 185 venues, including more than 90 middle and high schools in cuyahoga, lake, lorain, medina, richland, and summit counties. College Now provides virtual, in-school, need-based services throughout the school year, after school, and during the summer. Core services include: academic advising - guidance on high school course planning; graduation requirements; course requirements for specific College majors and courses of study; and tips on time management skills necessary for postsecondary success; career exploration - guiding students as they explore their own interests and various career opportunities and the training/education that is required to be successful in a particular field, sharing information on specific careers in demand in northeast Ohio, as well as extending opportunities for field visits and visits from professionals; College exploration, applications and enrollment - assisting students with researching postsecondary options, completing College applications, providing application fee waivers, visiting College campuses, and ensuring that students who have been accepted into College enroll and register for classes; and student financial aid counseling - guiding students and their families through the often-arduous process of filing for financial aid and scholarships, including the fafsa (free application for federal student aid), assisting with special circumstance appeals and requests for verification, identifying other financial aid sources, providing personalized strategies secure maximum financial aid to help students persist to graduation with minimal student loan debt, interpreting the student aid report and financial aid award letters, and determining final College costs.

Special services