CollegeBound Initiative

Program Description

In 1996, Ann and Andrew Tisch partnered with the New York City Board of Education to open The Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem - the first public all-girls school to open in the United States in 30 years. Their vision was to provide economically disadvantaged girls with a high-quality college preparatory education modeled upon the finest private schools.

We now have a network of five high-performing TYWLS public schools in New York City, serving more than 1,900 students. The success of our girls' schools has inspired the opening of dozens of single-sex schools nationwide, including affiliates in Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Texas. Our schools continue to be a model for single-gender public schools across the country. In 1998, Young Women's Leadership Network, a not-for-profit organization, was created to make our programming available to more students. YWLN supports two programs that provide college readiness and college access to low-income public school students:

CBI empowers young women and men to realize their higher education and life potential by placing full-time college guidance experts in high-need public schools. CBI counselors maximize students' college awareness, access, and financial aid awards.

CBI participants graduating from our partner high schools achieve four-year college degrees at more than double the rate of their peers.

CBI places full-time college guidance experts in public schools to work one-on-one with every student as early as the sixth grade. We combine intimate knowledge of our students and trusted connections with a diverse network of colleges, enabling us to optimize college placement and maximize financial aid. Our comprehensive approach creates a culture of success in each of our partner high schools. And the results are clear - we have 12 consecutive years of demonstrated success in increasing the college enrollment and attainment rate for low-income students. For CBI students, the question is not if but where they will go to college.

Demographics

Populations Served

• Academically High-performing

First-Generation

• Less than 25%

Representative
Colleges Attended
by Alumni

• Gettysburg College
• Harvard College
• Lafayette College
• Yale University