About Us

Mission & History

PATH Advising Program (formerly College Advising Corps – Boston University) works to increase the number of first-generation college going, low-income and/or underrepresented students who apply, enter, and compete college. To accomplish this mission, we place recent college graduates from a partner university as full-time college advisers in Greater Boston’s underserved high schools. In Massachusetts, the student-to-adviser ratio is over 360:1, leaving many students with just 20 minutes a year with a counselor. Additionally, high-need students often lack the guidance and support they need to prepare for and apply to college. PATH works in public high schools to provide the support needed to low-income and underrepresented students to navigate the post-secondary admissions process.

In 2013, with the help of the Greenlight Fund, PATH was brought to Boston. PATH was thrilled to partner with Boston University in the summer of 2015. PATH currently has 23 advisers serving in 28 high schools across Boston, Malden and Somerville.

Our Impact

PATH rigorously analyzes the impact our advisers have in the schools they serve. Each day, our advisers track activities that are key performance indicators for increasing college enrollment rates. These include:

  • Campus Visits
  • College Representative Visits and College Fairs
  • SAT/ACT Registration
  • College & Career Workshops
  • College & Trade Application Submissions
  • FAFSA Completion
  • Scholarship Dollars Awarded
  • Family Engagement

In 2020-21 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, PATH advisers:

  • Held nearly 12,000 one-on-one virtual advising sessions
  • Helped over 3,000 seniors submit +22,000 college applications
  • Retained services via virtual advising to 100% of schools partners

During the 2024 school year FAFSA delays, PATH advisers supported our schools districts with a 56% FAFSA Completion rate, doubling the national average and 5% above the state average.

Compared with students who do not meet with a PATH adviser, students helped by our advisers are:

  • 18% more likely to apply to at least one college
  • 19% more likely to be accepted to college
  • 24% more likely to submit the FAFSA