College and Alumni Program

Ensuring Student Success in College

For many students, making the transition from high school to college is a difficult challenge. They worry about paying the rising costs of college, adjusting to more challenging coursework and new social situations, and what it will mean to move away from the comfort of friends, community, and family.

But for underserved students like Wave-Makers, entering college is even more nerve-wracking. That is because 95 percent of Wave-Makers are the first in their families to attend college. These students need guidance on everything from housing to coursework, and they cannot even consider going to college without significant financial support.

The Making Waves College Program provides all of these services. Beginning with a school search and ending with graduation, a college leadership team shepherds the students, providing admission and financial aid counseling, college tours, guidance during the selection process, course and major advice, and ongoing academic and social mentoring throughout the entire journey to a bachelor's degree. Making Waves is currently assisting more than 200 young people in this program. We expect this figure to triple in the next five years.