Citi Foundation Launches Program in Miami-Dade as Part of Nationwide Effort to Address College Attainment Crisis.

Citi Postsecondary Success Program (CPSP) comes to Miami-Dade to Help Low-income Students Enroll and Succeed in Postsecondary Education

The Education Fund in Miami-Dade Calls upon Community and Business Leaders to Join in Partnership to Create a Pipeline of School and Community-Based Services and Programs

MIAMI -- As the economy continues to threaten Miami-Dade County students' college dreams, many low-income students and their families face intensified challenges. Today, at a national education conference held in Miami, Citi Foundation, together with the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Public Education Network (PEN) and The Education Fund, announced the launch of the Citi Postsecondary Success Program (CPSP). CPSP is a five-year collaborative effort of The Education Fund, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), communities, and local postsecondary institutions and organizations to increase the number of low-income public high school students who enroll and succeed in postsecondary education.

Citi Foundation has provided a $5,150,000 grant to AED/PEN to launch CPSP in Miami-Dade County, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Each community will be awarded annual grants over a five-year period totaling $600,000 to support the local project. In order to leverage Citi Foundation's resources and sustain the initiative past the initial support from the Foundation, the grantees will be required to raise matching funds from their communities.

"A degree from a postsecondary institution is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty," said Pamela P. Flaherty, president and chief executive officer of Citi Foundation. "Yet, for every 100 students who enter high school in the United States, only 38 enroll in college. Of those 38, only 18 graduate with a Bachelor's degree or an Associate degree. We know that schools and families can't solve the problem alone. That's why Citi has invested in a community collaboration approach to break down the barriers to postsecondary education and coordinate services for low-income students who need them most.

Will Provide a Systemic Approach to Address School and Community Factors that Contribute to Miami-Dade's College Access Crisis

There are several factors that Citi Foundation considered when choosing Miami-Dade County as one of the program sites. With more than 347,000 students, M-DCPS is the fourth largest school district in the country, making the program's best practices and lessons learned applicable to other large urban school districts. An estimated 70 percent of M-DCPS' students come from low-income families, and many students will be the first in their families to pursue postsecondary education.

"Only 44% of the students who enter our high schools graduate and pursue any form of postsecondary education. That means more than half of our students are not even in the running to compete in our global economy," said Linda Lecht, president of The Education Fund. "CPSP offers us the opportunity to determine which students are at-risk, identify the academic, informational, financial and social barriers, and help more students enroll and succeed in a postsecondary institution."

CPSP is designed to reach all high school students within five years with information about course preparation, financial aid, and the availability of postsecondary opportunities. The program will also target a cohort of 1,500 low-income students with intensive, coordinated services that bridge the information, academic, and financial steps to applying for postsecondary education. The intensive program will focus on academic preparation, developing school-wide college readiness cultures, involving students and parents in early planning for college beginning in the ninth grade.

Wendy D. Puriefoy, president of Public Education Network, the largest national group of community-based school reform organizations, said "Local education funds like The Education Fund in Miami-Dade have dedicated their organizations to helping school districts increase student achievement and helping communities to be more accountable and involved in improving public schools. The CPSP is perfectly aligned with the purpose and mission of The Education Fund."

Will Unite Miami-Dade Leaders in Multi-sector Partnership to Improve Postsecondary Access

As part of CPSP, The Education Fund will call upon local leaders from the county's public school system, universities, non-profit associations, business communities and government organizations to join together in a partnership. Partnership members will align resources so that they address systemic obstacles to students' postsecondary success and will plan for the program's sustainability beyond the five-year grant period.

"The Citi Postsecondary Success Program is not just about helping high school students in Miami-Dade enroll in college, we want to provide them with the motivation and support they need to stay in school, earn their degree and have a fulfilling career," said Barbara Romani, South Regional Community Relations Director for Citi. "The Education Fund has a proven track record in building public/private partnerships that result in sustainable educational improvements. They are the perfect partner to help us prepare students for success in college and beyond."

"We know that effective partnerships are not only critical to initiating college attainment programs, but also in sustaining them beyond the period of the grant," said Alexandra Weinbaum, Vice President AED. "When education leaders, community advocates, business partners, policy makers, and economic experts join forces to address postsecondary success, real change can happen for students and families."

Citi Foundation will also fund efforts to track outcomes for 1,500 of the participating students in Miami-Dade. One of CPSP's goals is to increase college enrollment in this group by 10 percent as compared with a baseline group of demographically and academically similar students. Another goal is to increase in number of students who complete their first two years of postsecondary education, which is a major indicator of future success. This evaluation, along with other information on lessons learned, will be disseminated widely to key stakeholders, including education organizations, policymakers, funders and researchers, across the nation to foster a better understanding of best practices in the college access arena.

The CPSP is part of Building Bridges to College and Careers, a new Citi Foundation initiative that is focused on addressing America's college access crisis for low-income students. Citi Foundation recently announced six grants under the Building Bridges to College and Career initiative that total more than $10 million. To learn more about Citi's Building Bridges to College and Careers initiative and grant recipients, please visit: http://www.citigroup.com/citi/foundation/a_edu.htm

Citi

Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be found at www.citi.com.

Citi Foundation

The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for underserved individuals and families in the communities where we work throughout the world. Globally, the Citi Foundation is focusing its giving on Microfinance and Microentrepreneurship, which helps individuals become economically self-sufficient; Small and Growing Businesses, leading to economic expansion and job creation; Education, which prepares young people for personal and professional success; Financial Education, which helps individuals make informed financial decisions; and the Environment with a focus on sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and stimulate economic growth while preserving the environment. Additional information can be found at http://www.citigroupfoundation.com/.

About the Academy for Educational Development (AED)

Founded in 1961, the Academy for Educational Development (www.aed.org) is an independent, nonprofit organization committed to solving critical social problems and building the capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to become more self-sufficient. It focuses on improving education, health and economic opportunities and outcomes for the least advantaged in the United States and countries throughout the world through partnerships, technical assistance, research and evaluation.

About the Public Education Network (PEN)

Public Education Network (PEN) is a national organization of local education funds and individuals working to improve public schools and build citizen support for high quality public education in low-income communities across the nation. PEN believes in an active, vocal constituency is the key to ensuring that every child, in every community benefits from a high quality public education. PEN and its 83 member organizations mobilize resources on behalf of 11.5 million children in more than 1,600 school districts in 33 states and the District of Columbia.

About The Education Fund

The Education Fund enlists the support of the private sector to direct resources where they are needed most in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Since 1985, The Education Fund has raised more than $30 million to increase student achievement in the district, including placing 10,000 computers in the homes of needy students and families, providing $5.6 million in classroom supplies to more than 14,500 teachers, funding $2 million in individual classroom grants, distributing 1.2 million trilingual Parent Resource Guides and raising more than $450,000 for students' visual arts programs. Visit www.educationfund.org for more information on The Education Fund's work.