National College Access Network Announces Support of National College Advising Corps

September 14, 2006- The National College Access Network (NCAN) has announced the creation of an office to support new higher education initiatives, including the National College Advising Corps. Nicole Farmer Hurd, Ph.D. will serve as NCAN’s Director of Higher Education Initiatives and will oversee the development of the higher education network. She will provide support for colleges and universities as they create access programs, as well as assist with oversight, assessment, and future growth. Dr. Hurd will also serve as a bridge between higher education and the community-based access programs that NCAN has served well for over a decade. Currently, NCAN’s membership includes 233 access organizations in forty-four states.

Hurd, who currently serves as an Assistant Dean and Director of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence at the University of Virginia, is the founding director of the College Guide Program. U.Va.’s College Guide Program places recent graduates in public high schools throughout the state to partner with guidance counselors in an effort to increase the college-going rate. In its first year of outreach, some high schools saw a twenty-five percent increase in college matriculation rates as well as increases in the number of students taking the SATs and filling out financial aid forms. The Guide Program, started with a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, has gained national attention and serves as the model for the National College Advising Corps.

The Corps initiative, led by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, will launch a nationwide effort to support the development of college and university-based college access programs. The Foundation has invited applications from 169 colleges and universities for four-year grants of up to $1 million to develop state-focused programs to advise low- to moderate-income high school students or community college students about the steps necessary to enter higher education or transfer to a four-year college or university.

“I am thrilled to be working on higher education initiatives with my colleagues at NCAN. As I have watched their efforts to create statewide networks and local access programs, I have been inspired by the idea of creating similar synergy among universities as well as connecting higher education with local programs in dynamic partnerships,” said Hurd, who will remain at UVA in a part-time capacity as the Director of U.Va.’s College Guide Program and will begin her post at NCAN effective September 24, 2006.

Christina Milano, NCAN’s executive director said “We are absolutely delighted to have Dr. Hurd join our staff. Nicole has demonstrated an astounding ability to start up and manage a new access program at U.Va. and we expect her to be a marvelous resource to others who wish to create similar initiatives.”