Higher Ed Life Prep (HELP)

In recent decades, the focus of higher education has shifted from college access to college success. College officials have found that earning a college degree or certification takes more than impressive high school transcripts and standardized admission test scores. It also requires the development of foresight, drive and the capacity to concentrate, design, predict and respond to life outside of the classroom. However, students are rarely assessed on these important pre-entry mechanisms until they are at-risk for leaving the institution without a degree, and by that time, it may be too late. Only one-third of all first-year students typically graduate in four years.  

 Research shows that 75% of students who leave college without a degree are in good academic standing.  That's why we focus on assessing and teaching students how to manage their lives outside of the college classroom.  ​​Dr. Williams says, "Students who enter higher education with the foresight, drive and capacity to concentrate their energy, design a strategic plan, predict plausible obstacles and respond wisely, attain their educational aspirations."  These core mechanisms are at the center of the counseling and instruction we provide.   The College Life Skills Course has been evaluated and recommended for college credit by the American Council on Education, the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions. This student-centered, questions-based course introduces students to the self-knowledge, self-discipline and college knowledge essential for success in higher education and beyond. Students are taught the A7MQ life management method that familiarizes them with the demands of college life inside and outside of the classroom; connects them with campus resources, informs them of policies and procedures; and enables them to transition from teenagers to adults.   

  The College FAQ Book: Over 5,000 Not Frequently Asked Questions About College! is the first and only comprehensive book of questions on the college experience. This easy-to-read, pocket-size but powerful book sheds light on how colleges work and helps readers understand the choices, challenges, bridges and barriers that college students encounter. The book gives students and parents the right questions to ask about every aspect of the college experience, and sheds light on how colleges work, for which students and with what resources. It helps readers understand the choices, challenges, bridges and barriers that college students encounter; and it clarifies differences between what students think college is all about and what it is in reality.  

Writer’s Digest Magazine says: “A student can refer to this manual at each step of the college process from admission to graduation… It actively forces its reader to seek out (and think about) the answers to its questions, rather than sit back and have those answers provided….The author leaves no stone unturned when it comes to college facts…This book covers questions a reader would never have thought of on their own making it easier for a college-bound user to be as prepared as possible.”