Families as Partners
Families and students at some Arizona high schools will soon receive targeted college-going outreach services thanks to a new program from the university's College of Education and Hispanic Serving Institution Initiatives office that aims to strengthen high schools' college-going resources.
A five year $3 million U.S. Department of Education grant will fund the program, called Outreach FAMILIA, which stands for Forwarding Academic Mechanisms Integral to Learning in the Academy. The program's pre-calculus dual enrollment courses, which the students can take for free while still in high school, will provide students with credits that can transfer to the university, and the foundation to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Bilingual parent outreach efforts with partnering high schools that have high-enrolling Latinx students will engage family members through high-impact activities such as:
- College Academy for Parents
- Financial literacy training
- Annual family college visit
- Orientation to essential student services at higher education institutions
By recognizing family members as partners in higher education, Project FAMILIA honors the importance of family support and cultural wealth that students bring to college.
These efforts are designed to expand and enhance institutional capacity to increase the number of Hispanic and low-income students entering higher education and earning post-secondary degrees.