Goddard Riverside’s Options Center was founded in 1985 as one of New York City’s first community-based college access centers.  Options’ College Access Counselors provide 1:1 support to help young people who are underrepresented in college – including low-income, first-generation, Black and Latinx young men and women, and those experiencing significant barriers to college enrollment, such as young people aging out of foster care, those who have experienced homelessness, DACA students – to successfully apply, gain admission, and enroll in college. In 2012, the Options Center began offering College Success Counseling services to support its students to persist through college and earn a college degree.  Access and Success counseling teams take a strengths-based approach to guide students to develop their own agency along the continuum of college applications, decision-making, transition to college, major determination, transfer process, and career planning.  In addition, since 2005 Options has operated a Training Institute that has provided training to more than 8,000 unique college access and success professionals representing over 600 schools and organizations. The Institute offers a 60-hour college and financial aid counseling foundations certification that has been described as the “gold standard” in the field and several full and half-day workshops. More recently, the Institute developed a College Success Training that includes four workshops on college-readiness topics such as Unpacking Financial Aid and Don’t Miss Your Transfer, and additional social-emotional sessions.

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