Bet­ter­Grads helps high school stu­dents reach their college-going poten­tial through online men­tor­ing, in-person advis­ing, and ever-accessible sup­port from col­lege stu­dents and young pro­fes­sion­als in their own com­mu­nity and around the country.

Val­ues

We are a student–and value–driven orga­ni­za­tion that believes

• High school stu­dents need advi­sors close to their age who are con­nected to their schools;
• Cur­rent col­lege stu­dents are the best sources of infor­ma­tion about what con­tem­po­rary col­lege life is really like;
• Col­lege is a des­ti­na­tion, not a des­tiny that some stu­dents can­not achieve; there­fore, col­lege prepa­ra­tion and aware­ness of the oppor­tu­ni­ties of under­grad­u­ate edu­ca­tion should be fun­da­men­tal parts of every high school student’s education;
• Pro­mot­ing a cul­ture of life­long learn­ing should be the ulti­mate goal of for­mal education.

State­ment of Need

For­mi­da­ble bar­ri­ers exist to qual­ity col­lege prep:

• Major bud­get cuts and insuf­fi­cient college-prep resources at high schools;
• Low expec­ta­tions for suc­cess among pub­lic school stu­dents, espe­cially those who are socioe­co­nom­i­cally mar­gin­al­ized, under­priv­i­leged, or with­out college-educated parents;
• High rates of high school drop-outs;
• A lack of sus­tain­able student-to-student advis­ing programs.

Objec­tives

1. Ensure that high school stu­dents are pre­pared to take full advan­tage of col­lege by stim­u­lat­ing hon­est dia­logue on every impor­tant aspect of the col­lege expe­ri­ence: admis­sions, aca­d­e­mics, social life, and beyond graduation.
2. Encour­age high school stu­dents of all back­grounds and attain­ments to believe in the pos­si­bil­ity and oppor­tu­ni­ties of college.
3. Fos­ter com­mu­nity mentorship.

Actions

1. Con­nect high school stu­dents with cur­rent col­lege stu­dents through a series of inter­ac­tive, enter­tain­ing, infor­ma­tive, can­did, and always free "Col­lege 101" presentations.
2. Cre­ate an online por­tal through which high school stu­dents can explore col­lege and inter­act with cur­rent col­lege stu­dents from their own communities.
3. Inspire and develop con­tent tai­lored to each local com­mu­nity for in-person pre­sen­ta­tions and the Bet­ter­Grads website.

Vision

Bet­ter­Grads envi­sions the day when every high school stu­dent in the United States has access to excel­lent col­lege advis­ing and prepa­ra­tion resources, regard­less of their back­ground or the resources of their school.