PeerForward, formerly College Summit,[1] is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of low-income youth by connecting them to colleges and careers. In high schools across the nation, PeerForward trains and deploys teams of influential juniors and seniors to drive key actions by classmates that will improve postsecondary enrollment and success.
In 1993, Keith Frome, J.B. Schramm and Derek Canty started a teen education center in the basement of a community center in low-income in Washington, D.C., working with students who had the intelligence, resiliency, and grit to succeed in college and careers, but did not know how to pursue post-secondary education. Through this program, they witnessed firsthand the transformative influence that one student could have on pushing their friends toward higher education. In 1996, they established College Summit Incorporated, which now operates as PeerForward, based on a fundamental question: "Who is the most influential person to a 17-year-old?" Their answer: "Another 17-year-old."
In 2015, College Summit launched PeerForward, an initiative built on decades of experience as well as third-party research about what really works in schools. A Stanford Social Innovation Review essay, "Cutting Costs to Increase Impact," analyzed this innovative approach to achieving scale. In the 2017–18 school year, 114 teams of influential 11th- and 12th-graders trained by PeerForward mobilized to run campaigns (events, peer-to-peer coaching, awareness) to reach 110,000 of their classmates and peers. Independent researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that PeerForward high schools had a 26% higher rate of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion compared to similar schools without the program. The effect resulted in an estimated $13 million more in grants and scholarships available to pay for school.[2] [3]