{"id":73556,"date":"2024-12-20T11:09:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T18:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=73556"},"modified":"2024-12-20T11:10:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T18:10:43","slug":"team-college-bound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/team-college-bound\/","title":{"rendered":"Team College Bound: Bridging gaps and opening doors for Arizona families"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting ready to send a child to college can be a hectic and stressful time for any family. When one has to navigate cultural and language barriers on top of financial aid, admissions, housing and meal plans, jumping into higher education can feel more like a frantic plummet than a worthwhile trust fall.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to this phenomenon, NAU\u2019s Family Access, Communication, Transition and Support (FACTS) team developed Team College Bound, a five-lesson curriculum designed to deliver resources and a sense of community to prospective NAU families through four distinct programs\u2014one online, one in English, one in Spanish and a first-of-its-kind Indigenous course created in partnership with Indigenous faculty, staff and students at NAU.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"High<\/a>By considering, acknowledging and combating the range of roadblocks that make choosing college difficult, Team College Bound aims to increase the number of first-generation, rural and underserved students enrolled at NAU or in other postsecondary programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt just takes one person going to college to change the trajectory of a family or a community,\u201d said FACTS Director <\/span>Maggie Thom<\/span><\/b>. \u201cTeam College Bound does a really great job of supporting that and making educational spaces feel more inclusive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Team College Bound is open to the parents, grandparents and guardians of any 10<\/span>th<\/span>– through 12<\/span>th<\/span>-graders in Arizona who are interested in exploring their university options after graduation. To date, 88 families have completed the program, representing 97 students. These groups emerged with a supportive network of fellow college-bound families, NAU faculty members and first-generation alumni.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once they register online, program members gather for weekly two-hour seminars that break down the many facets of the college experience into digestible discussions, including how to navigate the admissions process, payment strategies and scholarships, advice for transitioning into campus life and when students can take advantage of NAU\u2019s 24\/7 academic and career resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>While supplies last, program participants may also be eligible to earn FACTS-funded laptops, provided in an effort to close the digital and financial divides that hinder the accessibility of postsecondary education for first-generation and underserved students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter being in the program and getting to understand what the different opportunities are to help us save on costs, everything from scholarships to dual enrollment programs and many other things we hadn\u2019t considered, it has really helped us put our family at ease knowing that going off to NAU is actually doable,\u201d said <\/span>Carlos Rios<\/span><\/b>, a parent and Team College Bound graduate.<\/span><\/p>\n

With informational packets, workbooks and personalized completion certificates in hand, families come out of Team College Bound ready to take the reins of pre-collegiate preparation and excited to guide their students through this next fulfilling phase of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a>After graduating with one of the first In<\/span>digenous Team College Bound cohorts this fall, <\/span>Brandilynn Store<\/span><\/b> said she felt empowered to explore university options with her daughter for the first time, sharing a newfound enthusiasm for her future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019ve been attending these classes, we had that conversation regarding college and what she wants to do,\u201d she said. \u201cShe wants to pursue a career in criminal justice, which is not something that she thought of before. It just makes me feel more motivated and excited. I feel more confident in being able to help my daughter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Those interested in the upcoming Team College Bound Indigenous and online courses can register <\/span>online<\/span><\/a> by Jan. 23 and Jan. 27, respectively. Registration for the next in-person English and Spanish courses will open in fall 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about the program and hear testimonials from its graduates, check out Team College Bound\u2019s introductory <\/span>video<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting ready to send a child to college can be a hectic and stressful time for any family. When one has to navigate cultural and language barriers on top of financial aid, admissions, housing and meal plans, jumping into higher education can feel more like a frantic plummet than a worthwhile trust fall. In response…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":73565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}