Life after high school is a challenging transition for any student and mentors can be instrumental in helping students succeed.



Are you eager to support the next generation of young people in our community? Through the College Now Mentoring Program, offering your support and guidance is easy.

If you’re interested in becoming a mentor, all you need is a college degree, to pass a background check and the motivation to help others. The commitment can be minimal – you and your student will exchange two messages per month over an online platform and meet in-person or virtually three times per year – but the impact is life-changing. Apply by April 15 to be paired with a student graduating from high school this spring. 

Learn more about the College Now Mentoring Program and how you can get involved by viewing recent Mentor Monday stories with our partners at WKYC-TV3. You’ll hear from students, mentors and staff involved in the program and how both mentees and mentors benefit from the relationships.

Questions about becoming a mentor? Contact College Now’s Mentoring Program directly by emailing Nicki at nprice@collegenowgc.org.  

On March 29, College Now's chief program officer, Dr. Michele Scott Taylor, provided proponent testimony before members of the Ohio House Finance Committee on House Bill 33.

Dr. Scott Taylor highlighted both her personal and professional experience of the impact of financial aid on postsecondary educational attainment and how it can help secure a successful future, and focused her comments on four aspects of the proposed changes to Ohio's financial aid system. Watch her testimony below.

Over the past several weeks, students from John Marshall and Rhodes high schools who participate in our Xplore program spent their spring breaks in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. On this trip, students explored both cities, visited the B&O Railroad Museum and National Aquarium and toured the campuses of the University of Baltimore and Howard University.

Xplore is College Now’s after school program that focuses on college and career readiness, travel and finding the major that’s best for students. Each session focuses on a meta-major (some examples are Liberal Arts and Communication, Health Sciences and Environmental Studies), and students dive deep into that session’s meta-major. The most exciting part? A weeklong trip, like this one, associated with each meta-major!

Additionally, as part of our impact! program, we recently introduced high school students from Bedford, Euclid, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights and Warrensville Heights to the Detroit area, touring Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University and Terra State Community College. The students also attended a Detroit Red Wings hockey game. impact! provides high school students with entrance exam test preparation, focusing on career and college readiness.

Another group of impact! students, representing several Cleveland Metropolitan School District high schools, as well as Clearview High School in Lorain, toured Pittsburgh.

Finally, a group of Lorain High School students had the incredible opportunity to explore Chicago! The trip was packed with visits to Loyola University, University of Chicago, Walgreens' corporate headquarters, Primary Care Psychology, Lincoln Park Zoo, Skydeck, Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. The students also enjoyed a riverboat architecture tour on the Chicago River.

We are proud to offer such enriching experiences to our impact! and Xplore students and look forward to many more!

Endowed scholarship established at College Now for Shaker Heights High School grads

In honor and celebration of the 50 years since graduating high school, College Now board member Alan Kopit and his Shaker Heights High School Class of 1970 created a lasting legacy of higher education for Shaker graduates. Kopit led the fundraising campaign, contacting his former classmates, who raised $50,000 to date for the scholarship fund, held in College Now’s endowment portfolio.

The annual income from the fund will support Shaker grads with whom College Now has worked, with four-year renewable scholarships, plus mentors through College Now’s Mentoring Program.

Kopit recounted to his former classmates that because they benefitted so much from their own Shaker education and subsequent educational opportunities it afforded, that establishing the fund from the class of 1970 would be the most enduring and appropriate legacy.

Newly created Temple-Tifereth endowed scholarship at College Now supports OSU student as first recipient

Alana Johnson-Joseph was previously Cleveland Metropolitan School District honor student

Thanks to a substantial gift last year from Drs. Ximena Valdes Sessler and Daniel Sessler, The Temple-Tifereth Israel Scholarship for Promising Students was established at College Now. The endowed fund is already providing college scholarships to under-represented minorities graduating from Northern Ohio high schools who qualify for financial assistance along their path to higher education

Alana Johnson-Joseph, the first recipient of this scholarship, is completing her first year at The Ohio State University heading toward a career in healthcare. Alana was previously an honor student, as well as a star basketball player from Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s John Hay High School. Read more.

College Now offers scholarships to adult students ages 19 and above who have taken off one year or more after high school. Eligible adult learners are Pell-eligible and must be pursuing a first bachelor’s degree, an associate’s degree or a non-degree certificate or license in a vocational or technical program.

Applicants must complete the application and meet the scholarship criteria for academic performance and financial need. Scholarships are renewable.

Adults from Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull or Wayne County may apply. Students taking only online classes at a school outside of these counties are also eligible to apply.

For more information about our adult scholarships, please email ALPscholarships@collegenowgc.org.

College Now is known for its postsecondary education and career advising to middle and high school students, but did you know that the organization also gives recent graduates (with at least an associate's degree) or college seniors a jump start on their careers as an official AmeriCorps site?

College Now AmeriCorps members serve from August through June and work alongside our college and career advisors in Cleveland Metropolitan School District middle and high schools, providing college and career exploration and preparation. Our AmeriCorps members also participate in community service projects while receiving a $30,000 stipend and $6,895 to be used toward paying down their higher education debt or for future continuing education.

We are accepting applications through June 30 for our next AmeriCorps cohort, beginning in August. If you or someone you know is interested in this professional development and service opportunity, apply here.

By giving to College Now Greater Cleveland, you are making an investment in the future of individuals and in our community, as we help students achieve their goals of higher education and prepare them for careers in today's competitive workforce. Thank you for your support.

Post Office Plaza

1500 West 3rd Street, Suite 125

Cleveland, OH 44113

216.241.5587

collegenowgc.org