Breakthrough Austin

On Sunday September 21 Barry Aidman Executive Director of Breakthrough Austin spoke to the Social Issues Class. Breakthrough Austin provides paths to College for low income students in Austin. Their web site is www.breakthroughaustin.org

The statistics are incredible. Overall 79% of High School Students graduate in 4 years. In the target group that Breakthrough works with the statistic is 36%. Similarly, the greatest predictor of whether a student goes to college (statistically) is income. 51% of upper income students go on to college while 6% of lower income students do.

So its the parents right? Wrong. In the survey group parents and kids both want to go to college. The barriers that they face are many and tough to categorize.

Breakthrough targets middle school students and puts them on the path by helping with

1. Academic preparation
2. Attitude needed to navigate system and get to college (been through the bureaucracy in a bigger school lately)
3. Family encouragement (Loans a big issue)
4. College Prep activities

Programs include:

1. Core Program
2. Case management
3. Summer Programs
4. Monitoring
5. High School Placement
6. Alumni support

We will be spending more time on education but if you cannot wait contact Breakthrough and volunteer.