Edison Schools

J. B. Schramm is a product of Denver’s public schools and founded College Summit, Inc. in 1993 while directing a Teen Center in the basement of a Washington, D.C., housing project.

Tired of seeing teens “graduate” from his Center to the street, Schramm decided to help admissions offices see students the way he saw them. He contacted the best writing instructor and the best urbam worker he knew. Together they designed a workshop to help bright, low-income students who, with the right support during the transition from high school to college, could propel their lives (and communities) in a positive direction.

Schramm remembers how much he learned from the first group of 31 students College Summit supported. “A lot of our college ready kids were not going to college—which was especially troubling since college was how we were trying to motivate our high school students,” he recalls. Beyond a deeper understanding of students, he learned about their schools. “What I heard from the schools was that they didn’t want more add-on programs. They wanted to build their own capacity to address college enrollment.”

College Summit has grown from helping three students in a basement to helping thousands of students across the country each year. The organization builds the capacity of schools to dramatically increase college-going school- and district-wide. Trained student influencers build college-going culture, while teachers and counselors use a managed curriculum and technology tools to help all students create postsecondary plans and apply to college. Data and accountability tools equip school leaders to manage improved student outcomes. As a result, all students see high school graduation as a launching pad to successful futures. College Summit also offers a meaningful way for colleges, community organizations, foundations, and corporations to invest in the diverse talent within their communities.

IMPRESSIVE RESULTS

• Since 1993, College Summit has served more than 15,000 students across the country. This 2006-07 school year, College Summit and its partner high schools are serving nearly 7,000 students in California, Colorado, St. Louis, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and New York City.
• Schools partnered with College Summit have seen a 15 percent increase in applications sent to colleges from one year to the next, as well as a significant increase in their college enrollment rates.
• Nationally, those students selected and trained to influence their peers enroll in college at a rate of 79 percent, significantly above the national average of 46 percent among low-income high school graduates.
• These same influential students stay in college at a rate of 80 percent, higher than the national rate across all demographics.

RECOGNITION

Schramm is the recipient of numerous awards honoring his work and the organization’s success. These include:

• The Skoll Foundation Social Innovator Award (2006).
• The Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award (2004).
• The Manhattan Institute Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2002).
• The highest award in the field of college access from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (2001).
• The First Decade Award from the Harvard Divinity School (2000).
• The Ashoka Fellowship for social entrepreneurs (2000).
• The Graduate Public Service Fellowship from Echoing Green (1997-2001).
• J. B. Schramm and College Summit were also profiled in David Bornstein’s book, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas (Oxford University Press).
• College Summit won the Fast Company Social Capitalist Award, honoring the top social entrepreneurs “changing the world” in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007—one of only ten organizations to receive the honor four years in a row.
  

We at Edison Schools salute J.B. Schramm and his colleagues at College Summit for the difference they are making in children’s lives.

For more information on College Summit, visit their web site at www.collegesummit.org.