Development and Progress of the Appalachian Higher Education Network

AHE NETWORK IMPACT AND STATUS

The replication sites are now achieving success rates similar to those of the original site in Ohio. High schools funded by the first replication site in West Virginia have shown consistent, sustained gains in their college-going rates and many are now approaching or have surpassed the national average. In Hale County, Alabama, one of the poorest counties in the nation, all five participating high schools have reported college-going rates well above the national average of 63.3 percent, with two schools well into the 80s, one school in the 90s, and one school reporting 100 percent of all high school graduates going on to some sort of post-secondary training. Participating schools in Kentucky have shown increases of 20 to 30 percentage points, with one school reporting 92 percent of all graduates continuing their education. Of the five participating high schools in Appalachian Mississippi, all are now near or above the national average with 56 to 100 percent of graduates continuing their education. The Tennessee center is working with six high schools and has seen college-going rates increase almost 16 percentage points on average in their first full year of operation. The centers in North Carolina and Virginia are just starting up.

Appalachian Regional Commission Role

ARC provides training and support to the center directors. Sarita Gattuso, director of the West Virginia center, coordinates these services, which she provides along with Wayne White, director of the original center in Ohio. Together they mentor new directors and provide consultative services and training to the new sites. New center directors attend the Ohio and/or West Virginia grantee conferences to learn more about the process, and White and Gattuso travel to new sites to observe and assist with their implementation. ARC also provides training and assistance in obtaining other sources of funding. It is expected that after two years of support from ARC, each center will have demonstrated its effectiveness at increasing the college-going rates of high school students and will be able to attract adequate funding to maintain services.

From FY 1999 (ARC follows the federal October-September fiscal year. For example, FY 1999 began October 1, 1998, and ended September 30, 1999) through FY 2003, ARC provided $982,405 (includes a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of $75,000) to help grow and expand the AHE Network and has budgeted another $200,000 for FY 2004. (See Table III below.) Nineteen percent of the funding is used for support activities, including training and mentoring for the new centers. The remaining 81 percent is provided directly to the centers to support start-up and initial operating costs. As of September 2003, ARC investment had leveraged over $1,108,540 in state and local funds.