The Action Center for Educational Services and Scholarships (ACCESS)

ACCESS works to ensure that every graduate of the Boston Public Schools has the financial information and resources necessary to achieve their dream of a higher education. Since its founding, ACCESS has provided financial aid information and scholarships to thousands of Boston youth, helping them realize their higher education goals and giving them a better foundation for a successful and productive future.  Last year alone, we provided more than 10,000 hours of financial aid advising and $600,000 in need-based scholarship money.
 
ACCESS has learned three important lessons in the process of helping young people reach their college dreams. 

  • First, we have come to understand that students can complete college applications and take the SAT with limited parent involvement, but financial aid requires significant family participation. 
  • Second, community-based organizations of all kinds across Boston are helping young people aspire to and prepare for college, but struggle with and yearn for support on the financial aid front, a topic that requires specialization and constant refreshing. 
  • Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we realize that we can no longer afford to wait until a student’s senior year in high school to make sure they know that college can be affordable.  All too often, young people and families turn off the college dream because they can’t imagine ways to make it work financially. 

In response, ACCESS created the Early Financial Aid Awareness Program that engages students, as early as 7th grade, and their families in thoughtful and relevant programming aimed at breaking down the misconception that college is an unattainable goal due to cost.  Through partnerships with community-based after school programs and churches, ACCESS strives to share financial aid expertise with any family, or young person, who is unsure how to access it. ACCESS hosts the majority of our workshops during out of school time and in the evening so that families can attend and learn together.  By teaching tangible skills like researching affordable colleges or creating a scholarship resume, as well as getting important overview information about the nuts and bolts of financial aid, we hope to provide high-quality information as well as inspiration. 

ACCESS and our community partners are changing the way our youth learn about financing, and thus attaining, a college education.  This summer, ACCESS is proud to announce that we are deepening our commitment to our current community partners and performing outreach to attract new organizations that are interested in our programs and services.  Summer workshops can be scheduled by contacting Adam Reinke, the Early Awareness Coordinator at adamr@accessboston.org.
 
College costs will continue to climb, but if families are proactive in this process, and as a community we support the aspirations of our youth, there is no reason why money has to be the determining factor in whether Boston’s young people reach their higher education dream.