What kind of organization is the College Hub?
College Hub is a non-profit organization with 503(b)c status.

 

How is the College Hub funded?
College Hub received its seed funding from The Spartanburg County Foundation through a generous $500,000 lead challenge grant to cover operational costs. It is now our task to match this grant with business, foundation, and individual support to ensure that the work of the College Hub is sustainable and continues to serve citizens county-wide.

 

 

Is College Hub connected with United Way of the Piedmont?            Yes. College Hub receives United Way funding for our college student to high school student mentoring program, Collegetown Access, between Wofford College and Spartanburg High School.

 

 

 

How can I make a financial contribution to College Hub?
Your financial gift could motivate a student to believe for the first that she can use education to make her dreams come true, or help the first person in his family earn a college degree, or encourage a parent who lost her job to return to college so she can support her family. Please go to https://www.spcf.org/Ways_Contribute.htm to make an online contribution. Thank you for your support!

 

What will College Hub actually do?
College Hub will accomplish its mission of increasing educational attainment in Spartanburg County through: 

• Overall advocacy for a college-going culture across our county (This can be categorized as indirect influence on education: marketing a culture in which each citizen sees a personal role in the education of our county’s residents, collaboration with existing programs, research, community presentations, pushing for education in community initiatives) 
• Actions to support students in striving for and attaining college success (This can be categorized as direct influence on education: exposing middle school students to college through various and repeated messages and events, encouraging K-12 students to connect education to their future goals/careers, active involvement with educators and service providers to best serve students, giving adults tools to return to college)

 

How can I learn more about education in Spartanburg County?
The best place to go is to the source. Each school district and each college has its own website that contains information about programs, students, educators, and more. The Sartanburg Community Indicators Project has done an excellent job of collecting and analyzing data in our county. Here, you can learn more about education factors such as high school graduation and school readiness. The United Way of the Piedmont is a great place to get a picture of our community. Many other professionals and organizations in Spartanburg provide current information on education and our county. For a full list of resources for information, see our Resources page. You are also invited to follow our education-focused blog with the Spartanburg Herald-Journal: http://campusleader.blogs.goupstate.com/.

 

What are all these terms being used?
There are many education terms out there. Ed.gov offers a great glossary or financial aid terms. Education Planner offers a nice comprehensive glossary of various terms. A few of the commonly used terms to understand are:

 

• Associate degree: degree awarded after the satisfactory completion of a two-year program of study. The most common types are the Associate of Arts (A.A.) or Associate of Science (A.S.), usually resulting from the equivalent of the first two years of a four-year college program, and the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.), usually resulting from completion of a technical or vocational program of study.
• Bachelor's or baccalaureate degree: degree awarded after satisfactory completion of a program of study at a college or university. The most common types are the Bachelor of Arts (B.A) and the Bachelor of Science (B.S.).
• Cost of Attendance (COA): the estimated cost for attending a specific institution, including items such as tuition and fees, room and board (or an off-campus equivalent), books and supplies, books, supplies, and transportation. This number is used to calculate financial aid.
• Course load: number of course credit hours taken in each semester, with 12 generally the minimum to be considered a full-time student.
• Credit hours: number of hours per week that a course meets, used to determine status as a full- or part-time student and credits for financial aid.
• Expected Family Contribution (EFC): the number compared to the cost of attendance to determine your eligibility for federal student financial aid. This number is calculated from your FAFSA.
• FAFSA: the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the form you complete each year (after January 1) that the federal government uses to calculate need-based aid. It is available online at www.fafsa.gov.
• Open admissions: policy of admission commonly found in public junior/community colleges that does not subject applicants to a review of academic qualifications. In effect, any student with a high school diploma or its equivalent is admitted.
• Retention rate: number (or percentage) of students who return to their school for the sophomore year.
• Rolling admissions: when a school has no deadline for filing a college application.
• Transfer student: student who transfers from one college to another, applying previously earned credits to the new school’s graduation requirements. Each school holds its own policy for transfers and for which credits are accepted.

 

How can I help the mission of the College Hub?
EVERYONE can positively impact college attainment in our county! The biggest thing you can do is be an advocate for education. Learn about how education plays a role in shaping the futures of individuals and of the community as a whole, and then share that information with others. There is no "right" way to support the mission of educational attainment. You can talk to youth about their futures, encourage education at any age, let your own curiosity expand your education, reach to children, volunteer at a local school . . . the options go on and on! (See our Get Involved page for more ideas!)