Stephen Brown, Assistant Director of Outreach for Get2College Mississippi spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s June 18, 2019, meeting. The motto of the organizations is “We help you plan, prepare, And pay for college and it’s free. The following is taken from their website, but it is the message that Mr. Brown delivered to our Club.
Get2College is the flagship program of the Woodward Hines Educational Foundation. The Woodward Hines Education Foundation (WHEF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization working to help Mississippi students plan and pay for college. We are committed to helping more Mississippians obtain post-secondary credentials, college certifications, and degrees that lead to meaningful employment. The foundation’s flagship program, Get2College, has centers in Jackson, Ocean Springs, and Southaven that reach more than 45,000 Mississippi students annually, providing individual counseling on college admission and financial aid. WHEF also supports grants focused on increasing college access and success that ultimately lead to meaningful employment.
How Get2College is funded
WHEF and its founders have a long history of service to the students of Mississippi. WHEF’s founders helped start Mississippi Higher Education Assistance Corporation (MHEAC) in 1980 as a nonprofit funder of low cost education loans for Mississippians. In 1995, the founders elected to expand their mission to focus on higher education access for Mississippians through the creation of Education Services Foundation (ESF). Both MHEAC and ESF were restructured to allow MHEAC to liquidate its student loan portfolio over time and to transfer its fund balances to ESF—today, known as the Woodward Hines Education Foundation.
Our mission and strategy to help more Mississippi students have expanded and improved over time, but we remain focused on elevating Mississippi to a higher degree through programs and priorities that support educational access and success.
WHEF Mission
Our mission is to help more Mississippians obtain post-secondary credentials, college certificates, and degrees that lead to meaningful employment.
WHEF Vision
We envision a Mississippi where all people can secure the training and education beyond high school that will allow them to enhance their quality of life, strengthen their communities, and contribute to a vibrant and prosperous future for our state.
In addition to discussing the role, mission, and vision of Get2College, Mr. Brown described the programs that Get 2 College offers. The organization focuses on Setting Students up for Success. Get2College is committed to understanding the strategies that help underserved students (low income, first generation, and students of color) in Mississippi get to college and be successful there. We want to know what works. Our process is a continuous cycle of learning, testing and then sharing the data that tell us what is working.
We thank Mr. Brown for his informative and enthusiastic presentation to our Club. He is shown in the following photo with Club Treasurer Uriel Pineda, who introduced him.
