On average, there is only one college advisor for every 600 students in the region.
Read more Texas agencies must cut spending by 3% under new order from Abbott, Patrick and Burrows
But a free online tool was unveiled this week has been designed to guide adults through the process of helping middle school students navigate their college and career paths in Bexar County.
The tool, AdviseMe2010.org, was developed as a three-year roadmap for sixth, seventh, and eight graders who are on the cusp of selecting a career pathway. Through different guides, it aims to help students discover their likes, dislikes and to better understand what’s available to them locally.
UP Partnership, a local nonprofit organization seeking to ensure young people across San Antonio are ready for the future, alongside the San Antonio Area Foundation and Future Ready Bexar County Partners worked together to find a solution to the shortage of advisors that may leave students and families to figure this out on their own.
On Wednesday morning, the partners gathered to unveil the tool at the headquarters of Say Sí, an organization that has long provided free after-school arts programs for middle and high school students.
“We’re working toward a shared vision of ensuring that every young person in Bexar County is prepared for success after high school,” said Cathy Jones, UP Partnership CEO. “Whether that path leads to a college degree, an industry-recognized credential, military service, an apprenticeship, or moving directly into a meaningful career.”
The free online tool provides advisory guides for students in each of the three school grades. These are designed to be facilitated by an adult in a 1-1 setting, small groups or to be integrated in courses.
“Each module is written so that any caring adult can follow it,” the guide states. Your job is to be someone who believes in the brilliance of young people and wants to support their journey. The activities include scripts and prompts written in youth-friendly language.”
Using these scripts and prompts, students are asked to explore their likes, strengths, and what matters to them, before starting to explore career paths. It also guides the user through early college options such as dual credit courses and Career and Technical Education, or CTE.
“The middle school years are where this journey begins,” the guide continues. “Together, these three guides provide a developmental sequence that prepares young people for confident, informed choices in high school and beyond.”
The north star of this movement is to reach 70% postsecondary enrollment by 2030, Jones said, a goal set by Future Ready Bexar County Partners.
Read more San Antonio braces for more heavy rain after tornado, overnight flooding
According to data provided by Up Partnership, Bexar County’s postsecondary enrollment for the 2021-22 academic year was at 52%, above the state of Texas’ 47% enrollment rate.
According to the partners, because there are so few advisors, they might not have the time to get to know each student enough to help guide them through these decisions.
“There simply aren’t enough people in advising roles to meet every student’s individualized needs,” said Briana Hagelgans, managing director of Up Partnership. “One of the things we’ve learned through Future Ready Bexar County is that helping students succeed isn’t just about creating opportunities. It’s about making sure that they can find and understand those opportunities.”
This tool had been in the works since 2023, Hagelgans said. After meeting with community organizations, higher education partners as well as K-12 leaders involved, they realized that a voice that had been missing at the table was that of young people. So they embarked on an empathy interview process to better understand the needs.
“Some of them mentioned having guidance, through family, or they were already connected with a community-based organization,” Hagelgans said. “But there was still a big pocket of students who said ‘I self navigated. I didn’t have anyone to turn to. I didn’t have that guidance.’”
The Advise210 free tool was born out of this feedback and the need to better inform adults who might be able to fill in the gap with some guidance.
The success and impact will be measured in how many conversations with young students it helps facilitate, officials said, and it will be periodically updated with new information and opportunities in the region.
Reese Lundquist, 24, is a Say Sí alum who found the help she needed to navigate her path to college. She graduated from Alamo Colleges with an associate degree in Computer Science and remains involved at Say Sí helping lead summer courses. It’s pretty common in her role as young leader to get questions about college or career paths from students and parents, she said.
“A free digital resource like this will be helpful for students considering the move and hopefully making them aware of how successful secondary education can be for them,” Lundquist said. “Whenever I’m interviewing students, the thing I hear from the parents most often is, ‘I wish this existed. And you know, a lot of times these things are around. They just don’t know.”
Read more San Antonio artists urge city to put local culture at the center of Project Marvel
The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
