SAN ANTONIO EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP INC.

SAEP's impact is measured in the number of advisor contacts, student persistence, student transition and completion of a post-secondary credential. SAEP’s advisor will meet with each student at least once throughout the school year to create a post-secondary plan for once they graduate from high school.

Persistence is measured through the completion of a financial aid form (FAFSA/TASFA), college applications, and scholarship applications. Our goal is for 80% of all seniors to complete one or all these forms. Student transition is measured through matriculation into college after graduating from high school. Research shows that 70% of students plan on attending college after graduation from high school, yet only 58% attend the semester following graduation.

Because the majority of SAEP’s students are the first in their family to attend college, we make a conscientious effort to work with the student’s parent(s) in order to ease their concerns and hesitations about their child attending college. Acknowledging that the majority of the students SAEP serves are Latino, advising sessions with parents and families are available in Spanish when necessary. The SAEP scholarship helps alleviate financial burdens, and SAEP also works to provide students with as many financial aid resources as possible. Together, our advising services help create the pathways needed for student success. In order to achieve these results, SAEP’s programs work with students at every point within their educational journey. Whether preparing them to transition into college after high school or meeting with students to restart their journey, SAEP’s model of service is of tremendous benefit to underserved first-generation Latino students.

Established in 1989, the San Antonio Education Partnership (SAEP) was founded under the mission of creating opportunities, access and success for our community. This is accomplished through our 4 programs: cafecollége, Road to Success, Scholarship, and Upgrade. Each program provides college access to unique populations, providing pathways for each student served. Since 2010, cafecollége has provided year-round college advising services to over 72,000 students, no matter their age or point in life. The Road to Success program brings SAEP’s advisors into 32 high schools throughout Bexar County, providing critical one-on-one college access advising to the students. SAEP’s Scholarship program awards $2.1 million in scholarships each year to over 2,000 students. Finally, SAEP’s Upgrade program works with adult learners who have started but have not yet completed their college credential, providing them with the resources, knowledge and ongoing support to complete their credential.

Our ultimate goal is that students from our partner high schools will hold a four to six-year post-secondary graduation rate of 40-50%, which is significantly higher than the current high school to college graduation rate of 30%. To date, SAEP’s scholarship has helped over 24,000 students receive a college credential. Of those, 82% of students who have utilized the SAEP scholarship and graduated with a college credential are Latino. SAEP’s Road to Success program provides strategic college advising services to students throughout Bexar County. Recently, our greatest impact has been demonstrated through our dedication to increasing services within South San Antonio ISD. Only 12% of the residents within the South San community hold a bachelor’s degree, well below the community average of 30%. SAEP increased services at South San HS from 2 days to 4 days during the 2018-2019 school year. The changes were immediate and impactful. Scholarship applications rose by 37%, individual student advising sessions increased by 260% and 93% of the class of 2019 is currently registered for the fall 2019 college semester, a 17% increase from 2018.