News Release
Oct 8, 2008
Latino High School Students and Families Invited to Free College Fair and Paying for College Workshop with Spanish Translation
WHAT: A free college fair and Paying for College workshop for prospective Latino college students and their families presented by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU), The College of Mount Saint Vincent, the Bronx New York State Assembly delegation, and The Sallie Mae Fund.
The event is open to all who are interested in gathering more information about college, learning about receiving financial aid, and finding out how to navigate the application process. Spanish translation will be offered at no cost to attendees.
One high school junior or senior student will win a $500 scholarship from The Sallie Mae Fund.
WHO: Area college-bound students and their families, admissions and financial aid experts
Speakers include New York State Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera and Abraham M. Lackman, president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities
The following colleges will be in attendance: Alfred University, Barnard College, Boricua College, Bramson ORT, College, The College of St. Rose, The College of Mount Saint Vincent (host), The College of New Rochelle, Cornell University, Fordham University, Hamilton College, Iona College, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Manhattan College, Manhattanville College, Marymount Manhattan College, Mercy College, Metropolitan College, Molloy College, The New School, New York Institute of Technology, Pace University, Paul Smith's College, St. Francis College, St. Joseph's College, St. Lawrence University, Syracuse University, Utica College, Wells College
WHERE: The College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale (upper Bronx), 6301 Riverdale Ave, Riverdale, NY 10471; (718) 405-3267 or (800) 665-CMSV
The College of Mount Saint Vincent is located at Riverdale Ave. and 263rd St. and is easily reached by car via the Henry Hudson Parkway or Major Deegan Expressway and by public transportation.
Subway: Take the Independent (Eighth Avenue "A") train to West 207th Street. Leave the station via the 211th Street exit. Take City Line bus #7 to the campus gate on Riverdale Avenue at 263rd Street.
IRT #1/9 (#1 train—Van Cortlandt and 242nd Street) to 231st Street. Take City Line bus #7 or #10 to the campus gate.
Bus (from Manhattan): There are Riverdale Express buses from midtown and lower Manhattan, east and west sides. For information and schedules, please refer to the MTA bus schedules (http://www.mta.info/busco/schedules/).
Bus (from the Bronx): Several buses connect with the City Line buses at Broadway and 231st Street. The #7 and #10 stop at the campus gate.
Bus (from Westchester): Change at Getty Square in Yonkers for the Mount Saint Vincent #8 bus.
For a map and directions, see http://www.mountsaintvincent.edu/600.htm
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008, 12:30 – 4:45
Latino College Fair: 12:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Paying-for-College Workshop: 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
FAFSA Preview Workshop: 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Campus tours: 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public and media. Spanish translation is available at no charge. Visit http://www.thesalliemaefund.org and click on the “Find a Paying for College Workshop” tab; http://www.thesalliemaefund.org/smfnew/sections/register.asp or call (518) 436-4781 ext. 32 to register. Walk-ins welcome.
WHY: To explain funding options for education beyond high school; the affordability of college through various types of financial aid and the resources available to help Latino students and families prepare for the college admissions process.
Latino representation in higher education is growing, but not at desirable rates. In thinking about the challenges we face as a state, consider:
• Hispanics made up 15% of the U.S. population in 2005, and are projected by 2050 to represent approximately one-quarter (24%).
• Only ten of every 100 Hispanic kindergarteners in New York State will earn at least a bachelor’s degree, one-third as many as their white counterparts (32).
• One-third of Hispanic New Yorkers graduate high school in four years, a rate lower than all other ethnic groups and more than 20 points below the national average for Hispanics.
• Where two in every three white students expect to earn at least an associate’s degree, just 38 percent of Hispanic students report the same aspirations, according to a survey of New York State high school principals on the post-graduation plans of their 2005-06 graduates.
• Fewer than 12 percent of students enrolled in college in New York State are Hispanic; 60 percent are white.
• The U.S. Department of Education estimates that, if current trends continue, of every 100 Hispanic children entering kindergarten, 63 will graduate from high school and only 11 will obtain a bachelor's degree by the age of 29.
*Source: “Conversation Starter: Latino Students and Economic Mobility through Higher Education,” published by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, Spring 2008.
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The Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) represents the chief executives of New York's 100+ independent (private, not-for-profit) colleges and universities on issues of public policy. Member colleges compose the largest private sector of higher education in the world and confer most of the bachelor's degrees (56%), master's degrees (72%), and doctoral and first-professional degrees (80%) earned in New York State.
CICU member campuses enroll more than 466,000 students, including nearly 300,000 New York State residents. One in three (27%) New Yorkers enrolled full time at independent colleges and universities in the state comes from a family earning less than $40,000 annually. And most (52%) African-American and Latino students who earn their bachelor's and graduate degrees in New York State are Independent Sector alumni.