In 2007, UC Berkeley’s Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP) launched the Destination College Advising Corps as one of the ten founding chapters of the newly established National Advising Corps. With the seed funding from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, DCAC placed two Advisers in two Solano County high schools. The following year DCAC added a third high school in Solano County and expanded the program to San Bernardino County to three new high schools.
In 2009, the DCAC model changed with the addition of two CEP program partners and a third partner program was added a year later. These partners included School/University Partnerships (SUP), the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) and the Solano County Educational Consortium (SCEC) respectively. Each of these programs began to oversee placement of DCAC College Adviser Fellows into school sites and provided training and guidance, while also serving as liaisons with our school and district partners.
Today, DCAC has 59 full-time College Adviser Fellows in three counties throughout California (Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara).
Student Service
All students have a right to attend college -- regardless of their socio-economic status, race, gender, and beliefs. DCAC’s role is to be a guide in order to help students reach their post-secondary goals.
Adviser and Staff Development and Support
Our advisers and staff are at the core of the services DCAC provides and therefore the organization does everything possible to support and develop its advisers and staff in order to better benefit our students. Our important dual mission is to change the face of education by preparing our College Adviser Fellows to be future educators and leaders.
Collaboration and Partnership
Supporting and serving students on their path to post-secondary education is not a competition. DCAC partners and collaborates with school sites, districts and community-based organizations.
Individual Student Advising
DCAC College Adviser Fellows enroll and work with a cohort of 150 high school students at each our our partner school sites. DCAC College Adviser Fellows provide intensive and on-going college advising and college preparation support, and may include:
- Intensive academic advising and college planning
- Financial aid and scholarship application assistance
- Transcript evaluations
- College application assistance
- College campus visits
Whole School Support
DCAC College Adviser Fellows support our partner schools and district efforts to increase their college enrollment rates, develop their college-going culture, and to serve as a resource for all students attending our partner sites. Support activities may include:
- Individual drop-in college advising and preparation
- Family events (including Decision Day)
- College information workshops
- Financial aid and scholarship workshops