Academic Triage: Challenges Confronting College Preparation Programs

By way of portraiture, the author recounts his interactions with three young adults engaged in a precollege outreach program. By contextualizing the students’ experiences, he provides insight into the emotions, needs, and educational challenges faced by students in high school intervention programs. The findings point to the necessity of recognizing the social context in which college preparation programs occur, the importance of offering systematic and sustained support to students, and the embedded nature of college preparation programs requiring coordinated and comprehensive communication across high schools, universities, and outreach programs.