Why support YLA?

YLA programs include mentoring, intervention support, parent workshops, college tours, scholarships, application help, and so much more. Our students learn to be leaders in the community while securing the confidence to go to college and shape their destinies.

100% of our students come into the program from low-income families. About 85% will be first-generation college students upon graduation, like Tanya who just graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Public Policy and a minor in Human Rights.  She is starting a fellowship with UChicago Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and is planning on applying to law school in the next year.  This incredible young lady has worked hard, but she knows that none of this would have been possible without the support of her community, including YLA.

Forbes reports that less than 60% of college students graduate from a four-year college within 6 years, and that number is lower for African-Americans and Latino students.  When our YLA students attend a four-year college, 100% of them graduate within 4 years.