PeerForward, formerly College Summit,College Summit is Now PeerForward
/ref> is a national

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

dedicated to improving the lives of low-income youth by connecting them to

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

and career. In

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

across the nation, PeerForward trains and deploys teams of influential juniors and seniors to drive key actions by classmates that will improve

postsecondary Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

enrollment and success.

History

In 1993, Keith Frome Ed.D, J.B. Schramm and Derek Canty started a teen education center in the basement of a community center in low-income in Washington, D.C., working with students who had the intelligence, resiliency, and grit to success in college and careers, but did not know how to pursue post secondary education. Through this program, they saw firsthand how the influence of one student could push friends on the path to a higher education. They founded College Summit incorporated in 1996, now doing business as PeerForward, by answering a simple, yet important question: "Who is the most influential person to a 17-year-old?" The answer: "Another 17-year old." In 2015, College Summit launched PeerForward, an initiative built on decades of experience as well as third-party research about what really works in schools. A

Stanford Social Innovation Review ''Stanford Social Innovation Review'' (''SSIR'') is a magazine and website that covers cross-sector solutions to global problems. ''SSIR'' is written by and for social change leaders from around the world and from all sectors of society—nonprofi ...

essay, "Cutting Costs to Increase Impact" analyzed this innovative approach to achieving scale. In the 2017–18 school year, 114 teams of influential 11th- and 12th-graders trained by PeerForward mobilized to run campaigns (events, peer-to-peer coaching, awareness) to reach 110,000 of their classmates and peers. Independent researchers from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

found that PeerForward high schools had a 26% higher rate of

Free Application for Federal Student Aid The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form completed by current and prospective college students (undergraduate and graduate) in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid. The FAFSA is differe ...

AFSAcompleting that similar schools without the program. The effect – unlocking an estimated $13M more in grants and scholarships to pay for school.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.peerforward.org/ Educational organizations based in the United States