Bring College Closer

For too many students from low-income and historically underrepresented backgrounds, college feels out of reach – even when support is available. Join us as we use proven strategies to help the students furthest from opportunity apply, enroll, and attend the colleges they’re most likely to graduate from.

Get Involved

Complete a Financial Aid Form

Lay the groundwork for families and students to complete their financial aid applications (FAFSA/CADAA).

Apply to a Balanced List of Colleges

Help students plan and apply to a personalized list of “Safety,” “Match,” and “Dream” colleges.

Why It Matters

College application and enrollment support isn’t always enough. The most historically excluded students also need help believing that four-year colleges are a realistic option.

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Students from low-income families are 20% less likely to attend post-secondary institutions than their higher-income peers

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About 20-40 percent of high school seniors report college enrollment intentions but never actually enroll

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Low-income students who begin at four-year institutions are 3x more likely to earn a B.A. within six years than those who begin at two-year institutions

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B+

dollars went unclaimed in 2023 due to a lack of eligible high school students completing the FAFSA

What We Offer

Join a cohort of schools joyfully committed to learning from one another as they identify, test, and scale strategies proven to increase equitable college enrollment.

Evidence-Based Practices

Implement proven practices without starting from scratch. Use what’s working to develop tailored, well-vetted strategies.

Team working together to build a prototype

Multidisciplinary Improvement Teams

Build capacity by earning trust and buy-in from cross-department teams that practice then help scale proven changes.

Large group of team members with arms raised and cheering

Culture of Learning & Joy

Use continuous improvement to focus on what matters most for each school and student, consolidating and testing ideas with peers.

Person wearing hat looking at a chart with sticky notes

Tailored Coaching & Data Tracking

Create sustainable, timely data collection and analysis processes to guide cross-department coaching.

CARPE has changed our perspective on how we should do things and how just a little bit of time can change what happens with one student, and then that one student becomes two, three, four, and so on and so forth. It's a great opportunity for anyone who would want to participate. You would be crazy not to.

Dr. Antonio Shelton

Superintendent, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Our team is essentially creating a legacy where we're not only providing information to students as they need it, but educating our community to start preparing for a future that might be possible for them.

Daisy Astorga

9th Grade Counselor, Firebaugh High School

Our Impact:

Students Who See College In Their Futures

Our network has developed practices and systems that guide students to opportunities they once believed were locked away from them.

Student Outcomes

Each school in our network’s 2021-22 cohort improved FAFSA application rates and saw higher four-year college enrollment rates than the state average.

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of the new schools onboarded in 2021-22 improved their FAFSA rates by an average of 12 percentage points

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percentage point increase in four-year college enrollment from the start of the network to 2022

Chart of the percentage point change in seamless public 4-year enrollment from 2020-2021. California = 2.9 percentage point decrease. CARPE Schools = 2.3 percentage point increase.

To be honest, I never thought that CARPE would have even a little impact on our school. But actually, a lot of my friends and a lot of other students are taking a lot of words and a lot of knowledge from CARPE.

Student

Senior, Santa Monica High School

Participant Experience

Network participants experience both autonomy and meaningful connections that fuel their joy of teaching.

CARPE holds me accountable and holds the team accountable for the work, but also for the enthusiasm and the energy and the joyful commitment to the work. It's creative and it's fun and it's nuanced.

Ricardo Ramirez

College Advisor, Nogales High School, Rowland Unified School District

There isn’t this feeling that there’s one person who’s really in charge and that some of us can kind of kick back. We’ve really gotten to a place where every member of the team contributes equally.

Alison Murray

Social Sciences Teacher, International Studies Learning Center, LAUSD

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of participating educators agree the work is making a difference for the students they serve, exceeding the average of comparable networks

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of participating educators agree the data the network collects provides useful insights, exceeding the average of comparable networks

Opportunity

ISLC Students were making decisions with the assumption that college wasn’t a real choice for them. They closed the door without ever applying because it didn’t seem possible.

Insight

Optional is not equitable. The entire school staff must be proactive, collaborative, and intentional about sharing the commitment to listen to students, change the culture, and strive for improved college enrollment.

Intervention

ISLC’s team facilitated a weekly work group with a detailed student-by-student tracker, sharing ownership and accountability. The school implemented Application Fest, a dedicated time during the school day for students to fill out FAFSA applications and student surveys.

A School-Wide, College-Going Culture

ISLC staff led changes in the school’s college enrollment mindsets and practices, and their students’ mindsets and practices followed.

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100

FAFSA completion rate, a 14 percentage point improvement since ISLC joined CARPE in 2017

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percentage point increase in California State University and University of California acceptance rate, from 64% four years ago to 84% today.

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Made the California Student Aid Commission Race to Submit Leaderboard 3 year in a row since joining CARPE

Students' voices and our tracking systems have become part of the whole process. We’re looking at the data and we’re looking at their ideas. I think that is what continuous improvement does for us. It allows us to really look at and reflect on what’s working and what’s not, and then work from there.

Antonia Guzmán

English Teacher, International Studies Learning Center

The work with CARPE has helped ISLC Teachers, Coordinators, Counselors, and Administrators come together to provide better processes on how to support our college going students! Due to the guidance from CARPE, we have dramatically increased the CSU/UC acceptance rate and we have won the Race to the Top from the California Student Aid Commission for the last three years. These successes have come from the support and guidance of the CARPE Collaborative.

Michael Santiago

Principal, International Studies Learning Center

I enjoyed how the staff members walked all the students through the process of applying. This ensures my sisters will have an easy time when their time comes.

Student

International Studies Learning Center

If it wasn't for all the support from the school, I would be so stuck.
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Student

International Studies Learning Center

Bring College Closer

Students Who See College In Their Futures

International Studies Learning Center (ISLC) High School

Get Involved