This year, a University of Wyoming program that helps low-income high school students plan for college will run out of funding, but backers hope to keep it going.
The Wyoming College Advising Corps is funded by a federal grant. Last year, the program provided resources to about 400 Wyoming students.
Project Director Teresa Nealon says there are 10 full-time advisors in schools around the state, counseling students about how to prepare for college.
“They’re educating them about the types of careers that are available—and also how they can pay for college, because that’s really scary to a lot of people,” says Nealon. “So that’s really what we’re trying to do—is make a college going culture, and make sure that these under-presented populations have access to postsecondary education.”
Nealon says the program helps students enter college not just at UW, but at top colleges around the country.
About 34 percent of Wyoming’s working-age adults have a college degree. That’s below the national average of 39 percent. ?