The Go-to-College (GTC) team has now sunset, with original GTC partners now organized under two major collaborative efforts:

• The Austin Chamber of Commerce spearheads a number of collaborative initiatives to prepare more young people for college, including convening counselors and guidance professionals from regional districts, sponsoring Financial Aid Saturdays, and research initiatives.  Learn more at www.collegereadyaustin.com.

• The Austin College Access Network (ACAN) is facilitated by the E3 Alliance.  Many nonprofits that focus on college readiness activities have joined ACAN to coordinate more closely on college bridge and persistence initiatives, particularly for first generation college students or other students facing barriers to successful college entry and completion.  For more information on ACAN, call E3 at 512.223.7241. 

During its term, the team collaboratively produced a guidebook and helped to organize and expand Financial Aid Saturdays.  

The Go-to-College Guidebook

The Go-to-College Guidebook was created to assist youth service providers working with Travis, Williamson and Hays county high school students to encourage and prepare students to apply to 2-year and/or 4-year higher education institutions.   We hope you will find it useful!

This college readiness resource covers:

• College Planning
• College Admissions Tests
• Career and College Exploration
• Applying to College
• Financial Aid
• Surviving College

Financial Aid Saturdays

Financial Aid Saturdays were created by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and partners to help students and their families complete financial aid request forms such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA) and scholarship submissions. Free income tax preparation services are provided at select sites to expedite the application process.  In conjunction with the Austin Chamber of Commerce's 20,010 by 2010 initiative, the Go-to-College team helped increase the number of Financial Aid Saturdays events to 15, with seven school districts and more than 1,350 students and families participating to complete FAFSAs. They increased FAFSA completions by 17% over the previous year. Austin, Bastrop, Del Valle, Hays, Manor, Pflugerville, and Round Rock ISDs and eight higher education institutions participated. 

Team Purpose: To ensure all Austin area youth are prepared for and have access to college after high school.

GTC Team members (2009):

Name	Organization
Emily Steinberg, Chair/Team Lead	College Forward
Cyndi Contreras, Past Chair	Austin Chamber of Commerce
Scout Carr	Skillpoint Alliance
Hannah Gourgey	E3 Alliance
Claudette Jenks	Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Elizabeth Gonzalez	Breakthrough Austin
Megan Weed	Austin Partners in Education
Theresa Medrano	Goodwill Industries
Sandra McDowell	Goodwill Industries
Judy Burns	Casey Family Programs