The ‘On Track to Success’ program for the United Way of Windsor-Essex is showing positive results.
The program currently supports 125 students in Windsor and Leamington who come from low-income families and 50 students will graduate this year. The program provides mentoring and tutoring to students and helps break the financial barrier so they can attend post-secondary school.
Dr. Rajeeva Sinha of the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor says the average final mark for all courses for ‘On Track’ students after four years in the program was 70 per cent where non-program students finished with a grade of 64.
The stats also reveal ‘On Track’ students had fewer absent days – at 6.5 days compared to 12 a year for other students.
“The On Track to Success program equips the students with the assets they need to take charge of their own future,” says Sinha.
United Way CEO Lorraine Goddard says more than 90 percent of the students will graduate on time and attend a post-secondary program this fall.
“We know that if we upstream our support and we start to work with kids even younger that by the time they're going into high school, guess what? They're probably not going to need as much support. They're going to be better positioned to be successful,” says Goddard.
The graduates from the ‘On Track to Success’ program each receive $4000 toward their post-secondary education. If the student attends the University of Windsor, the school matches the grant. St. Clair College also offers an entrance award of $750 and $500 per year.
For access to a full summary report on the research for the ‘On Track’ program, visit weareunited.com/OnTracktoSuccessResults.
The next step in Dr. Sinha’s research will be to determine the impact that the program has on enrollment rates, credit accumulation and post-secondary program retention rates compared to similar attendees who did not receive program support.
It costs the United Way up to $6500 per year to have each student enrolled in the program.
The ‘On Track to Success’ program is supported through individual and corporate donations from the community.
