I N TE RN S HI P S FO R SU CCE SSFU L
POSTCOL L EG E CA R E E R S
By 2020, overall employment in the United States is expected to increase by almost
55 million, and 35 percent of these jobs will require a college education. Despite their
proximity to some of the best educational and professional opportunities in the country,
many students in the Bay Area remain academically ineligible to attend, let alone graduate
from college and compete in a 21st century workforce.
At College Track we know students have an extraordinary amount of talent, but lack the
opportunity to unleash it. We believe that by empowering students from underserved
communities to earn a college degree, we can help them capitalize on their potential.
Since opening our flagship center in East Palo Alto in 1997, College Track has grown to
serve more than 1,400 students across the San Francisco Bay Area. Our students are not
only enrolling in college, they are graduating at twice the national rate for low-income and
first-generation students.
A key component of our college completion program is providing our students with
internships that prepare them for successful careers post-graduation. In fact, one
internship increases the rate of securing full-time employment six months after graduation
by nearly 40 percent. For our students, 87 percent of whom will be first in their family to
earn a college degree, the value of internships is magnified.
By introducing students to the professional work environment early, exposing them to
networking opportunities, and making the connection between their academics and
career trajectories, our students will be able to succeed in fields where low-income and
first-generation youth have typically been underrepresented.