ACCESS (Ashtabula County Continued Education Support Services) is one of Ohio's newest college access programs, and has drawn on both tried-and-true methods and innovative solutions to reach students in Ashtabula County.

Founded in 2000, ACCESS focuses on helping students and their parents find the financial resources to make college dreams a reality. Private, in-school counseling is combined with evening workshops to create a comprehensive program on college financing. Last-dollar scholarships will be available in the near future to complete the financial puzzle.

"ACCESS had a great model in the Lake Educational Assistance Foundation (LEAF)," said Doug Burdick, program coordinator of ACCESS. "We have applied some of LEAF's proven techniques while developing new strategies to meet the unique needs of our county."

One of those new strategies is the creation of college resource centers in public libraries.

"Ashtabula is 750 square miles," Burdick said. "Rather than asking people to come to us, we decided to go to them. We took the program out into the community, into nine public libraries. Libraries are familiar turf; they're accessible and comfortable and unimposing. It somehow seems easier to keep a financial aid appointment at a library than at a school.

"The response has been outstanding," he continued. "College awareness is up, and so is college interest. Parents and students are taking ACT and SAT forms. They're taking scholarship applications. They're taking an active part in pursuit of higher education."

ACCESS also offers one-on-one counseling for juniors and seniors in 10 high schools:

• Ashtabula High School
• Conneaut High School
• Edgewood High School
• Geneva High School
• Grand Valley High School
• Harbor High School
• Jefferson High School
• Pymatuning Valley High School
• Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School
• St. Johns and Paul High School

"The whole process of college admissions and financing can be intimidating," Burdick said. "ACCESS is a user-friendly approach to the pursuit of dreams."

Ashtabula County is also a GEAR UP Lighthouse site. GEAR UP Ohio envisions every student, regardless of his or her parents’ wealth, ethnic background or geographic location, graduating from high school with the knowledge and skills he or she needs to succeed in college and the workplace—and it sees a future in which fewer students need remediation during their first year of postsecondary education. For more information, please visit http://www.regents.state.oh.us/gearup/index.html

For more information on the ACCESS, write to:

Ms. Kimberly A. Landis, Executive Director
ACCESS – Ashtabula County – est. 2000
17 North Market Street
Jefferson, OH 44047
440-576-3125
440-576-5003 (Fax)
E-Mail: klandis@accessashtabula.com
Web site: www.ohiocan.org/Ashtabula