EMERGE: Guiding Low-Income Students to Top Colleges in Houston

Adair Rivera aimed high with plans for college, yet he worried about the challenging admissions journey ahead due to being a first-generation applicant. However, he got an opportunity when he was admitted into EMERGE, a college guidance initiative designed specifically for underprivileged students in the Houston area.

Rivera mentioned that as a student enrolled at Houston ISD's North Houston Early College High School, EMERGE assisted him by offering essential guidance and counsel required to apply to various competitive universities throughout the country. This included support on expressing his thoughts effectively in college application essays and completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid process.

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"While you can get some guidance, of course, through the internet, it doesn't compare to having one-on-one conversations with my program manager," said Rivera, who is now a high school senior. "There's so much to do in the college application process. Beyond just writing essays, financial aid is crucial, and without EMERGE, I think I'd have had way more difficulties trying to get that."

Rivera is among the 1,200 students from the Houston area who will participate in the EMERGE program during the 2024-25 academic year. This initiative offers personalized college advising along with visits to various higher education institutions across the country for high school students.

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The initiative, established in 2010, aims at assisting underprivileged students in the application process for admission into prestigious institutions like Stanford or Harvard University. These universities often offer free or inexpensive tuition via their endowment funds or scholarship programs.

The nonprofit collaborates with Houston, Spring Branch, Spring, Aldine, and Klein Independent School Districts; however, most of the participating students come from HISD. This year, 750 HISD students are taking part, comprising 250 students each from the graduating classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027.

An 'individualized, personalized approach'

Almost all students enrolled in EMERGE come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with 85% being either Hispanic or Black. Across Texas and the rest of the country, low-income Hispanic and Black students generally exhibit lower rates of college attendance and six-year graduation success when contrasted with their peers who graduate high school.

In HISD, about half of Black and Hispanic students In every high school cohort, only a portion goes on to attend college. A quarter obtain college diplomas. In six years, according to district-supplied data, half of HISD's white students and two-thirds of their Asian counterparts complete college within this timeframe.

In EMERGE, however, over 90% of the Class of 2024 went on to attend a four-year college or university following their high school graduation, as reported by the program’s statistics. Typically, about 80% of participants in this initiative complete their college degrees within six years—a figure almost three times higher than Houston Independent School District's overall rate.

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Janicca Garcia, the co-chief operating officer of EMERGE, stated that their nonprofit assists students in navigating the college application process through the assignment of a dedicated program manager. This manager offers individualized, one-on-one guidance for college advisement, encompassing assistance with college applications, crafting personal statements, and securing financial aid.

"What we've seen with the more affluent students and families is there's personalized private counseling for this that they pay for out of pocket, right? ... Unfortunately, our families can't afford that kind of private counseling for college counseling for their kids, and so that's why it's important to have programs like this that can help bridge the gap," Garcia said.

Garcia, who is also EMERGE's vice president of external affairs, said it's "almost impossible" for school districts to provide individualized counseling support, as the average student-to-counselor ratio statewide is approximately 400-to-1. She said, through the program managers, EMERGE brings that ratio down to 60-to-1 for juniors and 40-to-1 in seniors.

"​​It's essential to have programs like EMERGE that are partnering with districts to really help bridge the gap, not only because we know, with a 400-to-1 (student to college counselor) ratio, there's just no way you can provide this individualized, personalized approach for any one student, whether they're from a lower socioeconomic background or not," Garcia said.

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'EMERGE truly makes an impact'

According to a 2023 study According to the Kinder Institute's Houston Education Research Consortium, students participating in the EMERGE program within HISD are notably more probable to submit applications and matriculate into selective universities. The research indicates that individualized support initiatives such as EMERGE assist traditionally underserved students in tackling the "complexity of college admissions process."

Vanessa Cruz, who graduated from HISD's East Early College High School in 2024, said it was normalized at her campus for students to go to schools like University of Houston or Houston Community College, but her program manager pushed her out of her comfort zone to apply to out-of-state schools and "prestigious" schools like Rice University.

"EMERGE really does make a difference if you're from a school that doesn't provide too many resources regarding the college application process," Cruz said. "It really does help you see that there's other options that you may not have known about. I honestly wouldn't have ever applied to Rice without EMERGE."

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Now a freshman studying business at Rice, Cruz said she speaks with a college adviser with EMERGE who checks in with her about how she is transitioning from high school to college. She also regularly meets up with EMERGE alumni who also attend Rice, which she said has helped her find a family during her first year on campus.

"There's been so many opportunities through EMERGE that I've been able to receive, and I think if I would have went to a state school that most of my friends went to, I think I would have been comfortable, but I wouldn't have been challenged, and that was really important for me," Cruz said.

Garcia mentioned that EMERGE's student groups are "extremely talented," however, being either low-income or first-generation students, they might lack the personalized support needed to identify the institution that suits them best.

Although many students in the program are among the top 10% of their classes and/or boast GPAs exceeding 4.0, several participants informed the Chronicle that they had not thought about applying to—or believed they would excel at—selective institutions before becoming part of EMERGE.

Garcia mentioned that these students possess significant leadership skills, yet often they find themselves under-challenged. Frequently, they attend institutions that do not align with their intellectual abilities, which can lead to higher dropout rates. Therefore, the focus should be on finding colleges where both personal and academic compatibility ensure success rather than merely selecting an institution based solely on academic standards.

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