A Family Guide to College Success

College success doesn’t begin on move-in day, it begins at home with informed, consistent support. A Parent’s Guide to College Success is a practical, research-informed parent training that equips families with clear steps, simple routines, and ready-to-use tools to guide their student from high school through college completion. Grounded in community cultural wealth, this program honors the strengths families already bring, hope, relationships, lived experience, and resilience, and turns them into an actionable support plan.

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Learning Outcomes

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By the end of the program, parents and caregivers will be able to:

• Identify key college-entry milestones and create a simple timeline for applications, transcripts, testing, and enrollment tasks

• Support financial readiness by understanding FAFSA/TASFA basics, scholarship strategies, and budgeting considerations

• Use parent “support scripts” to encourage, motivate, and hold students accountable without power struggles

• Strengthen help-seeking habits by guiding students to tutoring, advising, counseling, and campus resources early

• Build navigational confidence by knowing what questions to ask and who to contact when challenges arise

• Create a weekly check-in routine that promotes follow-through, time management, and progress monitoring

• Support persistence and resilience by helping students respond to setbacks with a plan (not panic)

• Promote graduation readiness by tracking credits, degree planning, and key checkpoints each semester