Contact: Fred Lewis, [email protected]; (202) 412-2167
More than 2,500 District of Columbia graduating seniors will explore college and career options, plan their future goals, and apply to college as a part of DC College Application and Exploration Month.
Sponsored by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), DC College Application and Exploration Month will run Oct. 1-31, at 41 DC public and public charter high schools and community-based organizations across the District to increase the number of first-generation and low-income students who pursue a postsecondary education.
“Historically, the initiative has occurred for one week in November,” said Antoinette Mitchell, Assistant Superintendent, Postsecondary and Career Education (OSSE). “With this new, expanded fall timeframe, students can participate in the college application process at their own pace over the course of a month, and schools and community-based organizations can align this initiative with many of the college exploration activities that traditionally take place in the fall.”
Now in its fifth year administering DC College Application and Exploration events, OSSE piloted the program in 2012 to increase college opportunities. Last year, 2,505 students from 30 high schools participated completing 5,636 applications. This year, OSSE is hopeful that each participating high school senior will submit at least one college application.
DC College Application and Exploration Month host sites are prepared with resources and volunteers to encourage student participation. Host sites planning college application and exploration events and activities will offer best practices for searching for colleges and writing admissions essays; help with transcript requests; and assistance in locating funding to pay for college through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DC TAG), Mayor’s Scholars Undergraduate Program and other scholarship and grant opportunities.
DC College Application and Exploration Month is coordinated by OSSE and the DC College Application and Exploration Month Steering Committee. The DC College Application and Exploration Month Steering Committee includes the following organizations: District of Columbia Public Schools, Friendship Tech Public Charter School, the University of the District of Columbia Community College, DC College Success Foundation, DC College Access Program, For the Love of Children, the College Board and the United Negro College Fund. High schools and community-based programs participating in DC College Application and Exploration Month include:
- Bellevue (William O. Lockridge) Neighborhood Library
- Calvin Coolidge High School
- Cesar Chavez Public Charter School - Parkside Campus
- Chevy Chase Library
- The College Board
- College Bound, Inc.
- College Success Foundation
- Columbia Heights Educational Campus
- DC Prep
- Excelsior College
- Eastern Senior High School
- For the Love of Children
- Frank W. Ballou Senior High School
- Frank W. Ballou Senior High School STAY Program
- Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School
- Friendship Technology Preparatory Academy
- Georgetown University Institute for College Preparation
- Hart Middle School
- Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science
- Kingsman Academy
- Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library
- Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) Career Academy
- Luke C. Moore Senior High School
- Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools – See Forever Foundation
- McKinley Technology High School
- National Collegiate Preparatory Public Charter High School
- Parklands-Turner Library
- Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
- Paul Public Charter School
- Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering (ACE) High School
- Rebuilding Independence My Style
- Sasha Bruce Youthworks
- So Others Might Eat
- Somerset Prep DC Public Charter School
- Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School
- Tiger Woods Learning Center
- The Next Step Public Charter School
- The United Negro College Fund
- Washington Latin Public Charter School
- Washington Mathematics, Science, and Technology Public Charter School
- Washington Metropolitan High School
For more information on DC College Application and Exploration Month, visit osse.dc.gov.