At Veritas High School, a small and mostly low-income school on Milwaukee’s south side, more than 95% of students graduate in four years, and almost all are accepted to college.
But only about two out of three actually enroll in postsecondary school. An even smaller share obtain a degree.
“Saying you’re going to college and actually going to college are two different things,” said Sherry Tolkan, principal at Veritas.
A new program may hold promise for boosting the numbers of students doing both.
As part of an experiment being tried nationwide, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee has matched a group of Veritas freshmen with business professionals to support the teenagers not only through high school, but also college.
A secure online platform allows the volunteer mentors and students to develop relationships over email, and live meet-ups take place at school once a month.