The gap between graduating and enrolling is solvable.
The Aurum Foundation pairs sustained at-school support with community-wide events to help first-generation students in Florida cross the distance from graduation stage to college campus.
The pipeline breaks after graduation.
The pipeline cracks every time a student leaves high school without the right information, exposure, and relationships for continued success.
Florida's Class of 2025 graduated at a record rate. The pipeline holds — until it doesn't.
Only 54 in 100 graduates enroll in college. That rate is falling, not rising.
Florida ranks 39th nationally. A completed FAFSA raises enrollment likelihood from 51% to 92%.
A student's four-year journey.
From the first day of ninth grade to the day they leave for college, The Aurum Foundation walks alongside every student.
Roots
Enters the program, is matched with a Gold Circles mentor, begins at-school academic and personal-development support, and takes a first Campus Day trip to Orlando-area colleges and technical programs.
Reach
Continues at-school support and mentorship. Compass Nights introduce financial aid and FAFSA basics. Campus Days extend to institutions one to two hours outside the Orlando area, widening the sense of what is possible.
Rise
FAFSA literacy deepens. Campus Days expand to a Florida statewide bus trip. The Aurum Foundation Bridge microgrants become available to help cover PSAT and SAT-related costs as college testing begins in earnest.
Launch
Compass Nights become hands-on FAFSA completion sessions. Campus Days become a regional, multi-state trip. The Aurum Foundation Bridge microgrants help cover application fees and deposits. The student graduates — and enrolls.
"Not after enrollment. Not in middle school. At the transition — where Florida's data shows the gap is widest."
— We work at the exact moment the pipeline leaks.
Unlike programs that intervene after a student is already enrolled in college, and unlike mentoring models that begin in middle school and end at high school, The Aurum Foundation operates at the specific junction between high school and college enrollment. We see ourselves as complementary to the broader regional ecosystem — organizations focused on college persistence or earlier-grade mentoring are natural partners on either side of the window we exist to close.
"The same structural, empirically grounded thinking that defines my academic work defines this organization's theory of change. The Aurum Foundation exists because the data told us exactly where to stand."
Dr. Claudine McLaren
Founder and Executive Director
Assistant Professor of Sociology with direct scholarly expertise in postsecondary student success and education policy.
RISE Youth Summit
The annual community-wide event that complements The Aurum Foundation's at-school work — bringing students, mentors, families, and community leaders together around a shared belief in what's possible.
Close the gap with us.
Every student who enrolls in college changes the trajectory of their family. Your support makes that possible.
