JKCF Grantee Named a 2014 Chronicle of Higher Education Influencer

Posted December 17, 2014 | By Cooke Foundation Staff

Dr. Nicole Hurd, founder and CEO of College Advising Corps (CAC), was recently featured on The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s 2014 Influence List. The Chronicle labeled Dr. Hurd a “messenger,” honoring her and the CAC’s work in expanding college access for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students. Since it began nine years ago, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has awarded more than $13 million to CAC and its university-based programs. You can read the full list of influencers here.

The College Advising Corps is the first national program to ensure that thousands of high-achieving, low-income students each year apply to schools that match their abilities and thus improve their likelihood of completing college. Financial support from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has enabled the College Advising Corps to grow in less than a decade from a pilot project at the University of Virginia to a nationwide nationally recognized non-profit organization. In the past five years alone, the CAC has expanded from 146 advisers serving 48,300 students to 470 advisers serving more than nearly 150,000 in 2014-15.

Thanks in part to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s latest half-million dollar grant, the program will continue to provide high quality near peer advising, but will now also enable students to expand the range of schools they consider and provide critical, direct information in the college admissions and financial aid processes. In its first year, the program will aim to identify and serve a nationwide cohort of 8,000-10,000 high-achieving, low-income students.

We are pleased to see that Dr. Hurd is receiving much-deserved recognition for her work and are proud to partner with the College Advising Corps in its successful college access efforts.

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