Our College Bound program was recently evaluated by Dr. Todd Franke, Professor and Chair in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Department of Social Welfare. The evaluation was funded by the MacFarlane Family Foundation. This third party report evaluates the program components which have made our College Bound program so successful in helping increase our graduation rate from below 50% in 2002 to 98% in 2013 with 97% of those graduates enrolling in a two or four year university.
In 2002, we launched the College Bound program to help our youth overcome the barriers that prevent them from graduating high school and going to college. Since then, the program has expanded considerably within our own organization and is now open to all youth members in grades 4 through 12. We have supported and continue to support the replication efforts of College Bound at 55 Boys & Girls Clubs nation-wide, 11 of which are in Los Angeles County. The Clubs that implement the program with our guidance are experiencing the impact. Dr. Franke’s Evaluation of the College Bound Program was conducted through interviews and surveys of alumni who completed the College Bound program in 2011 and 2012. Of the participants, 70% identified as Hispanic, with 15% of 2011 alumni participants and 35% of 2012 alumni participants having indicated that they were the first in their families to graduate from high school.