PeerForward (formerly College Summit)

PeerForward (formerly known as College Summit) targeted the DC metro area to establish a proving ground for a metropolitan college access model that could potentially send 3,000 students from low-income families living in this Region to college annually—many of whom would not otherwise attend.

While PeerForward is a national organization headquartered in Washington, DC, they needed to demonstrate local economies of scale with a viable and replicable regional platform and solution. The DC metro area—with its large school districts, high concentration of college-educated citizens and officials, large investment in schools, region-wide focus on closing the achievement gap, and growing numbers of talented, college-ready students from low-income families—offered PeerForward the most favorable conditions for it to demonstrate a successful regional solution that establishes a platform on which to grow nationally.

PeerForward-NCR’s increased effectiveness has allowed the organization to grow from serving 400 to 2,838 students: a 609 percent increase in five years.  The organization has established partnerships with seven key universities and twenty-seven schools in DC, Maryland, and Virginia (including three YI investment partners), greatly expanding its impact on the Region’s talented low-income students.