Power of Hope Award

Funder: National Postsecondary Strategy Institute (NPSI) in partnership with REACH HIGHER (Michelle Obama's Reach Higher initiative)

Purpose: Recognize school districts implementing FAFSA completion and college and career readiness programs led by school counselors.

Eligibility

• Applicant Type: School districts only (not college access organizations or individual schools)
• Licensed School Counselors: District must employ licensed school counselors
• Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL): Minimum of 50% FRL student population OR defined as rural by US Census
• Charter Management Organizations (CMOs): Eligible if they employ licensed school counselors

Requirements

Applicants must demonstrate:

• Engaged school counselors in implementing postsecondary enrollment and career strategies
• Used research-based data to lead and implement FAFSA completion initiatives
• Made significant progress in at least two of the 20 research-based college and career metrics recognized by NPSI

Award Benefits

• National recognition
• Appointment to National NPSI Advisory Committee to support NPSI Counselor Engagement strategies and the Reach Higher initiative
• Opportunities to share postsecondary advising framework and best practices through:
  • Webinars
  • Blogs
  • Newsletter blasts
  • Social media
  • Other channels

Geographic Scope

National (past winners from Illinois, Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, California, and New York)

Past Winners

2022 Winners (3 districts):

• Chicago Public Schools - Chicago, IL
• Garland Independent School District - Garland, TX
• Socorro Independent School District - El Paso, TX

2021 Winners (6 districts):

• Grand Prairie Independent School District - Grand Prairie, TX
• Alvord Unified School District - Riverside, CA
• Moreno Valley Unified School District - Moreno Valley, CA
• New York City Department of Education - New York, NY

2021 Spotlight Award Districts (2 districts):

• Columbus Community School District - Columbus Junction, IA
• Stillwell Public Schools - Stilwell, OK

Application Process

Submission Level: District-level application (not individual school)

Required Collaboration: The application process requires internal district collaboration between school counselors and may include collaboration with:

• Higher education institutions
• Non-profits
• Faith-based entities
• Businesses in the community

Application Components

Section 1: District information and counselor engagement strategies

Section 2B: College and career readiness metrics

• Submit exactly two additional metric indicators (no more)
• Select from 20 research-based college and career metrics recognized by NPSI

Section 3 – Counselor Narrative:

• Submit up to 5 school counselor strategies (no more than 5)
• College access partners providing support can be reported in this section

Important Submission Guidelines

• Web links and supporting documents: Cannot be attached to electronic application narrative documents
• Additional documentation: May be required from districts reaching the semi-finalist round
• Semi-finalist opportunity: Districts reaching semi-finalist round will have opportunity to provide additional information beyond initial caps (more than 2 metrics and more than 5 strategies)

Selection Process

• Initial application review
• Semi-finalist round (selected districts)
• Final winners announced