Chancellor Carranza Celebrates College Awareness Day
Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza today celebrated the fourth annual College Awareness Day with middle school students in Brooklyn.
NEW YORK – Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza today celebrated the fourth annual College Awareness Day with middle school students in Brooklyn. Citywide, schools serving grades 3-K to 12 are participating in college- and career-themed events emphasizing the importance of postsecondary readiness.
“As a first-generation college graduate, I cannot overstate the importance of fostering a college and career culture in our school communities. It’s never too early for our students to start thinking about the possibilities available to them after graduation,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “I’m thrilled to celebrate my first College Awareness Day as our College Access for All initiative is reaching every middle and high school in the City, and college readiness and enrollment are at record highs.”
College Awareness Day is an important part of the City’s College Access for All initiative, and it fosters a college and career culture in the next generation of graduates through activities including:
- Research and presentations on colleges
- Assemblies and small group meetings focused on goal-setting for the future
- Alumni visits and panel discussions with college graduates
- Staff showing school pride by wearing college apparel
- Pep rallies, parades and door decorating competitions
- Special event for District 75 middle school students at Tweed Courthouse
- Family event for students in temporary housing hosted at Brooklyn College
The Chancellor celebrated College Awareness Day at PS 84 Jose de Diego in Williamsburg, where he participated in a college awareness scavenger hunt with a group of 7th grade students. Each class researched a college and decorated a classroom door with facts about the college, and students completed the scavenger hunts by visiting each classroom door and collecting college facts.
Through College Access for All, every 7th grader in New York City has the opportunity to visit a college campus – approximately 70,000 7th-grade students each school year. Every high school has resources and supports for students to graduate with a college and career plan. This has included eliminating the CUNY college application fee for low-income students and making the SAT exam available free of charge during the school day for all high school juniors – increasing the number of juniors who took the SAT by 51 percent in 2016-17.
New York City’s postsecondary enrollment rate is its highest ever – a record 59 percent of New York City’s Class of 2017 enrolled in a two- or four-year college, vocational program, or public service program after graduation, up 2 percentage points from the previous year and up 8 percentage points from the Class of 2013. The increase in college enrollment came in the first year of College Access for All.
“I often encourage young Brooklynites to calculate the year that they will graduate college, write it on a piece of paper, and tape it by their mirror,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “Our students need to aspire for academic and professional greatness, and our schools need to reaffirm those aspirations with positive programming and mentorship that directs them towards pathways of possibilities. I’m proud to celebrate College Awareness Day alongside Chancellor Carranza, a day that reminds budding scholars across Brooklyn of the endless possibilities within their grasps.”
"An educated citizenry is essential to a fully functioning democratic society,” said Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick. "As Chair of the Higher Education Committee, I know firsthand the value a college degree has in changing the lives of individuals. I applaud the Chancellor and Mayor for their efforts to make a college degree more accessible to middle school and high school students throughout the City."
College Access for All is part of Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza’s Equity and Excellence for All agenda. Together, the Equity and Excellence for All initiatives are building a pathway to success in college and careers for all students. Our schools are starting earlier – free, full-day, high-quality education for three-year-olds and four-year-olds through 3-K for All and Pre-K for All. They are strengthening foundational skills and instruction earlier – Universal Literacy so that every student is reading on grade level by the end of 2nd grade; and Algebra for All to improve elementary- and middle-school math instruction and ensure that all 8th graders have access to algebra. They are offering students more challenging, hands-on, college and career-aligned coursework – Computer Science for All brings 21st-century computer science instruction to every school, and AP for All will give all high school students access to at least five Advanced Placement courses. Along the way, they are giving students and families additional support through College Access for All, Single Shepherd, and investment in Community Schools. Efforts to create more diverse and inclusive classrooms, including Equity & Excellence for All: Diversity in New York City Public Schools are central to this pathway.
Contact: Chancellor’s Press Office (212) 374-5141