To and Through College
The road to and through college is filled with obstacles, especially for students from under-resourced and overburdened communities. College Bound provides the support and guidance necessary to help first-generation students from low-income backgrounds get to and through college.
As College Bound celebrates its 20th anniversary, the organization reflects on two decades of expanding access to higher education and transforming outcomes for students across the St. Louis region.
College Bound was founded in 2006 by Lisa Orden Zarin, the daughter of a single mother and school teacher in Newark, New Jersey, who emphasized the importance of education. That message stayed with her.
Years later, when Lisa’s own son applied to college, she experienced the admissions process from a place of privilege and support. She began to question what that journey looked like for students growing up in communities like the one she came from. What she found was sobering. Less than ten percent of students from low-income communities were completing their college degrees, compared to 75 percent of students from high-income backgrounds. The gap felt nearly impossible to bridge. Determined to address this disparity, Lisa founded College Bound to help close that gap.
Achieving Results
What began in 2006 with two high schools and 36 students has grown into a program that now serves nearly 500 students across more than 30 high schools in the St. Louis region.
Over the past 20 years, College Bound students have earned 417 bachelor’s degrees, and 71% of graduates return to St. Louis to work, strengthening the region’s workforce and communities.
College Bound students are achieving strong outcomes:
- 50% or more of CB students graduate from college, compared to 11% of their first-generation peers from low-income backgrounds
- 43% of CB@STLCC students graduate within four years, compared to just 20% of community college students with similar backgrounds nationwide
- 98% of students matriculate to college within six months of high school graduation
- 65% of To and Through students complete a bachelor’s degree within six years of high school graduation
- 81% of students attend colleges with minimal out-of-pocket expenses, no more than $3k after all aid/ federal loans
Through individualized coaching and a long-term commitment that spans 7 to 9 years, College Bound continues to innovate and expand opportunities, ensuring that more students not only reach college, but successfully graduate and build meaningful futures.