How to Support Parent College Knowledge

This toolkit highlights accessible information about college applications, financial aid and key milestones in the college planning process. It includes strategies for growing family engagement and strengthening family networks around college knowledge at the school and community level.

The goal is to empower families with the information and confidence needed to actively support their students’ college journey.

This toolkit includes the following (scroll down for links to files):

Family-to-Family College Knowledge Guide – This guide provides useful activities for counselors and other educators on building family engagement around college-knowledge, including tips for creating a parent/guardian ambassador network for those who have navigated the college process to connect with parents/guardians who are new to the process. In addition to the PDF version, we have provided this guide as a Microsoft Word document to be editable so you can adapt your copy for district size, community needs, family demographics, etc.

College Fair FAQ – This is a FAQs sheet for parents/guardians and students to prepare for what to expect from a college fair. This helps families and students prepare in advance of a college fair or visit so that they can effectively use their time to ask questions that matter to them and share important information with college recruiters.

College Fair Question Card – These cards are for more focused college fair conversations. They contain sample questions for students and parents/guardians to ask college recruiters at a college fair, interview or campus visit.

Tips for Families YouTube College Prep Playlist – This curated video playlist features videos with tips for parents/guardians of high school juniors and seniors embarking on the college search and application process.

This is the third of three toolkits of the IDRA Community-based College Access – Online Technical Assistance Toolkit.