iMentorCorps is a proposed program to help high school students pass the CAHSEE exam through one-on-one mentoring. It would match students with college student and graduate mentors based on common interests. Mentors would provide individualized instruction and study plans through an online platform. The program aims to create a supportive community for both students and mentors. Mentors who successfully help their students pass the CAHSEE could receive up to $1,000 in student loan forgiveness. Studies show individualized instruction and mentoring are the most effective ways to improve graduation rates.

1. iMentorCorps

2. 12
Two Challenges
That’s 20%
of California
high school
students.
Two-thirds
of college students
have federal student loans.
On average,
they owe $23,000.
Every year 200,000 high
school students fail the CAHSEE.
45,000 seniors will not graduate
because they did not pass the test.

3. The cost of
borrowing
“The ripple effects for today’s heavily indebted young people are becoming
palpable. A growing body of research suggests that tough loan payments
are affecting major life decisions by recent graduates, forcing them to
marriage and having children.”
2
“Yes, this sounds like the housing bubble...” 3
“...federal bankruptcy law makes it nearly
impossible to discharge student loan debts.”1
“...an eerie echo of
the mortgage crisis...”
1
1
New York Times: Placing Blame as Students Are Buried in Debt (May 28, 2010)
2
Wall Street Journal: Students Borrow More Than Ever for College
3
Glenn Reynolds: Higher education’s bubble is about to burst (June 6, 2010)
$23,186: The average
debt load of the two-thirds
of college students who
borrow to finance their
education.
In 2008 206,000
college graduates left
school with more than
$40,000 in student
loan debt, a ninefold
increase over the number
of people in 1996, using
2008 dollars.*
$

4. The cost of
failing to graduate
from high school
People who fail to graduate
from high school:
Are 72% more likely to be unemployed
Earn 27% less than high school graduates
($260,000 less over a lifetime)
Costs to society:
Non-graduates from the class of 2008 will cost the nation
$319 billion in lost wages over the course of their lifetimes.
Non-graduates from the class of 2006 will add more than
$17 billion to Medicaid and expenditures for uninsured
health care over the course of their lifetimes.
Raising the graduation rates of Hispanic, African American, and
Native American students to the levels of white students by 2020 will
increase personal income, adding $310 billion to the U.S. economy.
Increasing the graduation rate and college matriculation of male
students by just 5% could lead to combined savings and revenue
of almost $8 billion annually by reducing crime-related costs.
Lifetime Earnings

5. What’s been tried
to help high school students
pass the CAHSEE
But no funds have been allocated in the 2010 California state
budget for students who need special help to pass the CAHSEE.
Pilot programs costing $375
to $1000 per student have
shown success but they’ve
been one-off projects or have
not been consistently funded.
Automated online
test prep: $800 for
materials and
access to
website.
Study guides and
books: $30 to
$50 each.

6. One-to-one mentoring.
Studies show one-to-one mentoring is the
most effective way to help students pass
the CAHSEE.
Why not match high school students with
college students & recent college graduates?
But how?
Individualized instruction and mentoring/ tutoring have
been identified by the National Dropout Prevention
Center as having “positive effects on the dropout rate.”
What
works
best?

7. iMentorCorps
One mentor, one student works best.
iMentorCorps
Matches high school students with mentors based on common
interests, skills, language, and other factors.
Provides an appointment scheduler and customized study plans.
Creates a living community of students & mentors, all working
on a standardized schedule covering the same issues at the
same time, creating rich online discussion opportunities.
Rates mentors based on their success in helping students
pass the CAHSEE.
Provides the security of a private communications channel
between students and mentors.
Lets mentors and students upload their own helpful videos,
building a library of rated content available to all students.

8. iMentorCorpsprovides up
to $1,000 toward loan forgiveness
for each successfully completed
mentoring program
student after five successful
passing scores
complete the mentoring
program and evaluation form
CAHSEE, the mentor must
petition to rejoin the program
$
Loan forgiveness has
a long track record
$4,725 per year loan forgiveness
for full time service.
15% cancellation of outstanding
loan balance per year.
Possible reduction of loan if teaching
in low-income in which there is a shortage of
teachers for a given subject.