Headquarters Ohio, United States | ||
Similar Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland Play House, Ideastream, Lake Erie College, John Carroll University | ||
Cleveland Scholarship Programs(now College Now Greater Cleveland) was established in 1966 by Robert Coplan, one of the founders of the Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan, and Aronoff law firm. Since then, it has grown into one of the nation’s leading college access program. They have received national recognition and are recognized as being one of the first organizations of its type, and a precursor to other similar organizations located in Baltimore, Boston, Columbus, Miami, Santa Barbara, Washington, D.C. and numerous other cities.
College Now helps families and children by providing access to postsecondary education. Since they began 43 years ago, College Now(then CSP) has helped more than 200,000 students go through the college and financial aid application process and has awarded more than $42 million in scholarships. College Now provides college access services to Cuyahoga County residents interested in enrolling in four-year universities, community colleges and vocational and technical programs. College Now offers:
College Now serves students from kindergarten through high school in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties, and adult learners who want to return to college in 11 Northeast Ohio Counties: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, and Trumbull.
College Now's college advisors are present at many North-East Ohio public high schools to assist students through one-on-one advising and group sessions. Many advisors are present throughout the majority of the academic year and may be in each school one or more days per week.
College Now's programs help thousands of students in North East Ohio. These programs include, but are not limited to, the Early Awareness, Educational Talent Search, GEAR UP and Learn-to-Work programs.
Many scholarships average $1,300 per student and are renewable for four years, if the students continue to meet specified requirements. During fiscal year 2007-2008, College Now paid a total $2,865,715 in scholarships to more than 2,000 individuals. This represents a 6 percent increase in the number of students awarded scholarships from the previous academic year.
College Now also administers scholarships for companies and organizations for a fee. For fiscal year 2007-2008, College Now administered $584,833 for over twenty scholarship programs.
CMSD Top 50 Program
One of College Now's newest programs is the Top 50 Program throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan School District(CMSD). in the Top 50 program, 50 students(or more, depending on circumstances) in the CMSD are chosen for extra one-on-one advising with a selected College Now advisor. Some of the benefits of participating in the CMSD Top 50 Program are:
The criteria (as of the 2011-2012 academic year) for being chosen and/or accepted into the program depends mainly on a student's standardized test scores and grade point average, but can also depend on other additional factors as well.
Students in the Top 50 program are encouraged to apply to prestigious and ivy league schools/universities that otherwise may be thought of as out of reach for Cleveland high school seniors. A few individuals in the Top 50 Program (as of the 2011-2012 school year) have been accepted to such universities as Harvard and Stanford, showing the success of the program.