News Announcement
For further information please contact
Cheryl L. Kight - Vice President, Marketing

Columbus, September 18, 2008

TEACHING TEENS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN A COLLEGE
DEGREE AND FINANCIAL SECURITY
Cleveland-area students to take part in new interactive workshop

The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) launched its innovative Bridges program earlier this year in collaboration with its member colleges in northeastern Ohio.  The program is intended to educate urban high school youth, who may not see college as a realistic option, about the value and accessibility of higher education, as well as the availability of financial assistance and support systems.   OFIC is working in conjunction with the office of Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray and United Pastors in Mission in the Cleveland area, offering weekend workshops and information sessions at participating churches.  The program has since expanded and is now being offered through Cleveland Central Catholic High School.   It is the goal of OFIC to make Bridges available to students throughout the greater Cleveland area.

Bridges is an innovative tool that provides colleges access to students that have traditionally been difficult to reach and also allows students access to colleges and universities that they have traditionally viewed as unreachable.  The program began by contacting these students primarily through neighborhood churches, where pastoral guidance, congregational support, role models and emotional and spiritual resources were readily available.  Contact was also planned through selected urban high schools. 

Bridges workshops are co-developed and delivered by OFIC college staff and faculty as well as student/community representatives, and each is structured to involve both students and their parents.  Activities are provided to encourage problem-solving, interpersonal

communication and creative thinking to help participants begin to build a “tool kit” of problem-solving strategies.  Information is presented about the personal, social and financial benefits of college, issues that students might face in considering college, and higher education campus culture.    Workshop attendees learn academic survival skills to prepare for success in high school as well as college and also learn about the college selection process as well as the logistics of financial aid, and admissions.  The office of Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray partners with OFIC in this effort and provides a seminar for students and their families on the development and implementation of spending and savings plans, both for future college attendance and for success in daily living.  “I know of few other actions which can do more for an individual’s economic growth and financial security, than setting their sights on a college degree and working diligently to get there,” said Treasurer Cordray.  “I’m pleased to partner with the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges to encourage these teenagers and their parents to take on this potentially overwhelming but very worthwhile task.”

It is the vision of OFIC to be able to offer this program throughout the State of Ohio. 

OFIC is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 34 independent Ohio colleges and universities and operates one of the largest, most comprehensive and diverse scholarship management services in the state.  OFIC member colleges collectively enroll more than 97,000 students and award one-third of all bachelor’s degrees in the state. For 58 years OFIC has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education and has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship commitments through funds raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations, thereby assuring continuation of excellence in private higher education. OFIC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of Ohio’s corporate leaders, as well as presidents of the 34 member colleges.

The member colleges are:  Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bluffton University, Capital University, Cedarville University, University of Dayton, Defiance College, Denison University, The University of Findlay, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Franklin University, Heidelberg College, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Lourdes College, Malone College, Marietta College, Mount Union College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum College, Notre Dame College, Oberlin College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College, Urbana University, Ursuline College, Walsh University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster.