By Emily Chung

The USC College Advising Corps (USC CAC) program places well-trained, near-peer college graduates full-time at high schools to provide college guidance. With the investment of our community in the program, including partner school districts, foundations, and individual donors, we are able to provide our services at scale. Each year, USC CAC provides college advising services to more than 11,000 students, spanning 33 high schools across ten Los Angeles County school districts. 

While AI is only adding to the fire hose of knowledge and information available to students, USC CAC advisers are trusted school professionals who can provide tailored guidance to students. They also ensure the quality and accuracy of college-related information that is vital to college access and success. Research shows that light-touch or virtual college advising efforts do not result in an increase in students being more likely to be accepted or enroll in college. But sustained and effective advising—requiring healthy, in-person relationships—help move the needle for college and financial aid access for students. (Bird et al., 2021; Gurantz et al., 2021; Gurantz, Hurwitz and Smith, 2017; Phillips and Reber, 2022). 

For our partner schools, USC CAC advisers can provide much needed capacity to overburdened school counselors. California’s student-to-school counselor ratio at 432:1 is among the highest in the country. Moreover, the personal relationships that advisers build with students is key to the efficacy of our program; advisers earn the trust of students, teachers and counselors by showing up to work every day in the high schools where they’ve been placed 

Seeing the impact that USC CAC advisers can have on students in a supportive school environment is perhaps most visible at Decision Days events. Decision Days are celebrations for graduating high school seniors that advisers take an integral part in planning, fundraising and conducting. Each year, it’s one of my favorite times to see the advisers hard at work, basking in the reflected glory of their students. 

In May, I got to see USC CAC adviser Jamie Morales at Compton Early College High School, which has the distinction of boasting a 100% college acceptance rate for its graduates. It was also great to see Omar Hernandez, one of our adviser alumni and now a higher education coordinator for the district, work the crowd as a terrific emcee for the event. 

And besides hearing about all of the amazing colleges that the Compton class of 2026 were admitted to —I was able to see Jamie honored for her own announcement at Decision Day. Jamie will be attending Chapman University in southern California for her M.A. in School Counseling! It’s moments like these that make me so proud of the USC CAC program and all its accomplishments. We celebrate our high school staff, students and of course, our advisers who are the role models for educational success!