Youth College Readiness and Career Exploration
Despite significant educational investments directed by government and private organizations to improve the postsecondary opportunities for low-income students, there continues to be a persistent gap in the educational attainment of students in lower socio-economic classes, and those from historically underserved racial backgrounds.
Data shows that educational underachievement results in lower wages and lifetime earnings. The gap in academic and related career success stems from several factors, including students’ access and exposure to resources and programming that could shape their future and positively influence them to see that college is not only a goal, but a very real possibility.
From 2020 through 2023, Pathways to Excellence offered the year-round HBCU Pathways Program, which focused on college readiness, career exploration, and cultural awareness. This program included monthly career development workshops, virtual summits, and a summer reading club.
Beginning in 2023, Pathways To Excellence shifted its youth programming toward workforce development, with targeting services supporting college readiness and career exploration. Pathways To Excellence partners with Maryland-based high schools to provide career planning assessments and resources, deliver career-related workshops and demonstrations, and to support college tours and internship placement.
How can we serve you?
School Administrators and Career Counselors
Contact us to support in-school college readiness and career exploration initiatives.
Parents and high school students
Interested in accessing on-demand content from the HBCU Pathways Program? Contact us here.
Youth Leadership & Education Programs
SHAPE YOUR FUTURE
HBCU Pathways Program
Pathways To Excellence is proud to be an authorized service provider for the HBCU Pathways Program (by X Is Possible, LLC). With a focus on college, careers, and culture, the HBCU Pathways Program exposes high school students to post-secondary educational and career options BEFORE they select a college or major.
Participating students receive asynchronous college planning and essay writing training, and access to a virtual college counselor. Live meetings are held once per month, October – May. Through partnerships, Pathways pairs students with scholarship resources, career shadowing experiences, and internship opportunities.
HBCU Pathways Program Summer Reading Experience
Pathways To Excellence, Incorporated administers a virtual summer reading program to increase students’ awareness of Black literature and culture, provide relatable stories which can be cited in high school and college essays and applications, and help students to learn to appreciate reading, through facilitated activities with peers. Each summer, students review 2 or 3 books and receive a reading guide to capture key learnings.
Pathways To Excellence provides paperback books to students, at no cost, and convenes semi-monthly group sessions to discuss students’ observations, and identify content that is appropriate for essays. As part of the program, students have the option to complete a personal essay writing course to reinforce comprehension and incorporate takeaways from the books into their admissions and scholarship essays.
Biomedical Science Careers Student Conference
Pathways To Excellence, Inc. supports partner, PG PAEO in its annual sponsorship of an enrichment experience for STEM oriented high school students.
PG PAEO has developed a relationship with the sponsoring organization, and PG PAEO affords students from Prince George’s County, MD to attend a major conference in Boston in Spring of each year. The 2023 will be in-person; PG PAEO participated virtually in this program during Covid.
EVENT AT A GLANCE
