For Immediate Release: April 28, 2006
Contact Person: Jennifer Blatz, Executive Director, 513.830.1200

Ohio College Access Network Announces Two New Members

CINCINNATI (April 28, 2006) – Working to increase the attainment of higher education for Ohioans, the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) announces the establishment of two new member programs.
 
“The work of Ohio’s college access programs is making higher education a reality for more Ohioans,” said Jennifer Blatz, executive director of OCAN.  “As OCAN works to help individuals pursue life-long education, we have focused specifically on assisting historically underserved populations of all ages and have worked with communities that have demonstrated a need for access services.  OCAN’s focus helps increase college enrollment and at the same time builds a system of access for current and future Ohioans.”
 
OCAN is the first statewide network of independent, community-based college access programs in the country.  These programs help students and families overcome barriers to postsecondary education, including costs and misconceptions.  They deliver hands-on guidance and financial support, most of which is provided by local individuals and businesses, who have raised over $13 million. The State of Ohio has been a valuable partner to OCAN. Through Governor Bob Taft’s $2 million Access Initiative in 2002, OCAN has grown in four years to serve 36 Ohio communities and more than 165,000 students and families in nearly 300 of the state’s 612 school districts. To ensure its continued expansion, the Governor committed an additional $2.3 million for OCAN in the current state budget.
 
 
The two new OCAN member programs are:
 
Warren Educational College Access Network (WECAN)
 
WECAN seeks to prepare Warren County Citizens for their future by increasing awareness and enrollment in post-secondary opportunities.  WECAN is currently piloting a program at the Warren County Career Center where a college access advisor meets individually and with groups of seniors and their parents, encouraging them to continue their education and assisting them with post-secondary and college applications, financial aid forms and available scholarship information.  Next steps for WECAN include establishing a resource center for parents, students, and community at the Countryside YMCA to make the access program available for after school hours and to the adult community.  WECAN seeks to have an advisor in every high school in Warren County within the next 3 years. WECAN partners include the Area Progress Council of Warren County, Countryside YMCA, and Warren County School Districts.

Greenville-Darke County College Access Program           
 
The mission of the Greenville-Darke County College Access Program is to assist the community, high school students and parents to develop a mindset that students can attend post secondary education and find resources to support themselves as they work through their educational programs by providing one-on-one college access advising services.  The Greenville-Darke County College Access Program provides support throughout the college application and financial aid process with the goal to eventually serve all of Darke County.  Strategic partners of this initiative include the Greenville Business Advisory Committee and Greenville City Schools.
 
According to Ms. Blatz, “These new members show great promise to help move OCAN closer to its goal of providing college access opportunities to all Ohioans.”
 
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For more information contact:
 
Jennifer Blatz
Executive Director
Ohio College Access Network
513.830.1200
blatzj@ohiocan.org
www.ohiocan.org
 
OCAN was founded in 1999, by KnowledgeWorks Foundation, in collaboration with the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Business Roundtable.  OCAN works to establish college access programs across the state and is the first statewide coordinating body for college access programs in the country. The goal of the organization is to help more Ohio students pursue postsecondary education through the work of local college access programs, which provide financial aid advising, last dollar grants, career guidance, and other services.