Washington, DC is served by dozens of college access providers, ranging from small volunteer programs to large organizations with professional staff.  Out-of-school time programs, religious organizations, mentoring organizations, and volunteers provide support to local youth as well.  In fact, virtually every public school in DC is served by multiple college access providers.

So what makes CCC different?
According to Double the Numbers, most college access providers serve a relatively small number of students per school and concentrate their efforts on 11th and 12th grade youth.  The level of support ranges widely and includes low-intensity programs with occasional workshops, and far fewer programs serve the public charters than the District’s traditional public schools.
CCC fills these critical gaps in service in the following ways:

• OnTrack! reaches students in lower grades. Double the Numbers recommends that college access providers in Washington, DC intensify their efforts to reach students in lower grades, which is what CCC is doing by offering early college awareness and planning programming.
• OnTrack! reaches all students in 8th and 9th grades. Double the Numbers reports that even in schools where there are many providers, a significant number of the students in the school do not receive services because most programs only serve a small number of students.  CCC partners with schools to provide programming to all students in a grade, reaching even those who would not otherwise seek support.
• OnTrack! serves four public charter schools in Wards 7 & 8. Since far fewer programs serve public charter schools, CCC’s partnerships fill a needed gap.

CCC’s OnTrack! program was designed after extensive research in order to fill the critical gaps in service in Wards 7 & 8 and effectively advance CCC’s mission of ensuring that the youth from DC’s lowest-income communities are prepared to graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education.