In October 2005, VPP continues its investment partnership with College Summit, a dynamic organization whose mission is to increase the college enrollment rate of low-income students by ensuring that every student who can make it in college makes it to college, and by putting college access “know-how” and support within the reach of every student.

This investment of $350,000 will help College Summit prepare and implement an outcomes-driven, regionally-based business plan. Further investment would assist the organization in developing the operating capacity to manage rapid scaling throughout the region to increase annual student enrollment 12-fold over four years (from 250 to 3,000), facilitate the building of partnerships with local school systems (including charter schools) and college and universities, and leverage other college access assets in support of College Summit’s aspirations.

VPP previously provided $384,000 to College Summit during the first phase of this investment partnership, which began in December 2004, to help College Summit address the college access needs of high school students from low-income families throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. While College Summit is a national organization, VPP’s support focused on the College Summit DC Metro organization, and enabled them to build out their leadership and fully develop their organizational capacity.

OPPORTUNITY
College Summit aspires to increase the college enrollment rate of low-income students by ensuring that “every student who can make it in college makes it to college.” It has targeted the DC metro area to establish a proving ground for a metropolitan college access model that will potentially send 3,000 students from lower income families living in this region to college annually, many of whom would not otherwise attend. And, in meeting this aspiration, it seeks to reform the college access systems in the high schools served, and close the college access gap between students with low family incomes and students with middle and high family incomes. A chief strategy is to establish a regionally successful fee-for-service platform that can be replicated, and erase college enrollment gaps nationally.

While College Summit is a national organization headquartered in Washington, DC, currently they have larger programs in other cities, such as Chicago, so they must first demonstrate local economies of scale with a viable and replicable regional platform and solution. The DC metro area, with its large school districts, high concentration of college-educated citizens and officials, large investment in schools, region-wide focus on closing the achievement gap, and growing numbers of talented, college-ready students from low income families, has the most favorable conditions for College Summit to achieve its primary aspiration, and demonstrate a successful regional solution that establishes a platform on which to grow nationally. More broadly, College Summit believes that talent among low-income students is undervalued, and it seeks to correct this “market inefficiency” so that the value of these young people can be realized in a way that serves them well and serves the self-interest of institutional players in the college access arena: public high schools, colleges and universities, and corporations.

INVESTMENT RATIONALE

1. Leadership: J.B. Schramm, an Ashoka fellow, graduate of the Harvard Divinity School, and winner of Fast Company Magazine’s “2003 Social Capitalist of the Year Award,” has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills as he has grown College Summit from an after school program associated with Good Shepherd Ministries in the Jubliee Housing Development in DC, to a national organization with an annual operating budget approaching $7 million. College Summit presents a special opportunity for VPP to invest in national leadership that is focused on the Washington metropolitan area. VPP would be investing in the leadership of J.B. Schramm and the national board and team, in addition to the leadership and board recruited to run the DC Metro operation. This assumes the full commitment and direct participation of J.B. Schramm and the national organization in building College Summit/DC Metro.
2. Leverage: College Summit, because of its innovative and unique focus on the transition from high school to college, is well positioned to form alliances with other college preparatory and college access programs. Its programs and systems are distinct and focused enough so as not to compete with programs offered by others (College Board, Kaplan, DC CAP, etc.), yet provide resources and tools that complement them. Because of this, alliances can be formed that would likely strengthen all partners and improve opportunities for all the youth who participate in them.
   
   
3. Demonstrated performance in achieving outcomes: College Summit has demonstrated that it can close the persistent college attendance achievement gap between students from low-income families and those from more affluent families. Moreover, it has demonstrated exceptionally high college retention rates (80%). College Summit also had developed a strong technology infrastructure and capability for participant tracking that can be used to develop even more advanced outcomes management and analysis functions. College Summit is an outcomes-driven organization and has established clear metrics for itself.

SUCCESS FACTORS
We believe this investment in College Summit will be successful because of the following key factors:

1. Board and Management Team – Strong national senior management team and a number of high-powered boards and advisory group. Founder and Executive Director J.B. Schramm demonstrates outstanding leadership skills and is committed to creating a highly functioning management team for the DC Metro office.


2. Programs and Products – Exceptional process, curriculum materials, trainings, and workshop formats.


3. Financial Sustainability – Unique fee-based income structure that strengthens and stabilizes revenue flow. Exploring other fee-based revenue streams including contractual agreements with colleges and universities.


4. Growth Trends – Growth of 130% by 2003.
   

USE OF FUNDS
Through this investment partnership, VPP proposes to support the College Summit/DC Metro business planning process with funding up to $350,000, and to augment this financial support with the strategic assistance of the VPP investment team. Under this Agreement, a business planning process will consist of the development of a comprehensive strategic plan and critical area plans that will guide College Summit‘s development and growth related to strategic marketing for DC Metro, and a set of agreed-upon milestones that would frame a follow-on investment agreement.

College Summit Website