College Possible Catalyze partners with CSUSB to support students

College Possible Catalyze has launched a new partnership with California State – San Bernardino to expand its college success support. Catalyze will provide partners with on campus, near-peer coaches to support students from historically underrepresented and underserved communities in their pursuit of a college degree.

“College Possible is thrilled to expand its footprint with new institutional partners,” said Catherine Marciano, College Possible Vice President of Partnerships. “Our place-based coaches will extend the reach of services already existing on the campus to ensure that first-generation college students and those from lower-income backgrounds receive one-to-one support centered on academic success, financial management and personal development topics.”

Eighty percent of CSUSB’s undergraduates are the first in their family to attend college, 74 percent are underrepresented minorities, and 56 percent qualify as Pell grant eligible, according to the university’s Office of Institutional Research and Analytics. Catalyze has deployed coaches on the Palm Desert campus, with plans to serve approximately 560 students annually.

College Possible’s Catalyze coaches are recent college graduates who’ve committed to a year of AmeriCorps service at their alma mater. They bring relevant, recent experience navigating many of the challenges their students face in complex college systems, accessing available campus and community resources, managing the cost of college, and staying on track academically. College Possible’s near-peer coaching model leverages an intensive, evidence-based curriculum to achieve meaningful gains in student persistence and degree completion.

“We applaud the commitment of these partner universities,” said Marciano. “Together, we are helping ensure that these often marginalized student groups receive personalized care. By working together, we can improve retention rates for these students in the years to come.”

Learn more at CollegePossible.org.