RICHMOND, Va. — The college access organization Partnership for the Future is holding a free Keys to College summit on Saturday at the VCU School of Business. They're hoping to equip parents and students on the various pathways to going and paying for college.
Goochland native Tia Turner is a product of the program as she is now a junior at the University of Richmond. As the middle child of eight siblings, Turner was the first in her family to attend college.
"Growing up I just didn’t really have the best role models," she said. "I didn’t really know who to look up to, so I figured I’d just make a mentor of myself."
Turner is now studying business with plans to eventually go to graduate school and credits the program with helping her get to where she is.
"It was over $350,000 that accumulated in scholarships from all the universities," Turner said.
Dion Henderson with Partnership for the Future said the event will include multiple panels and workshops for students from 9th-12th grade.
"Our most recent class had nearly $18 million in scholarships so we just want to share some of that information," Henderson said. "We want to share that with the community for students who are not in our year-round program."
A recent study by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center described that while overall undergraduate enrollment is up 3% in 2024, freshman enrollment has declined by at least 5% compared to last year. It's a statistic Turner said she hopes turns around, encouraging anyone interested in college to attend this weekend's event.
"The thought process, the application process it was completely new to me and the people around me, so I really did have to depend on the people from the program," Turner said. "Come out and just kind of hear different perspectives, come with parents and other friends."
The organization encourages those who want to attend to register through the link on their Facebook page.
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