City Year: Keeping Kids in School and On Track to Graduation

Every year in America, a million students drop out of school, with most of them being people of color and living in poverty. Almost half of all African-American students will not graduate from high school, and only 60 percent of Hispanic students will. A student who does not finish school is three times more likely to be unemployed and eight times more likely to end up behind bars. The national dropout crisis is not only a civil rights issue, it's also an economic disaster, costing the American economy billions of dollars year after year.

In 1988, Harvard Law School roommates Michael Brown and Alan Khazei founded City Year, an education-focused, non-profit organization that brings together young people of all backgrounds to help keep students in school and on track to graduation. Brown and Khazei believe that young people in service can be a powerful resource for addressing the country's most pressing challenges and that one person can make a difference. Today, City Year is serving 24 cities across the US and in two international affiliate sites located in London, England and Johannesburg, South Africa.

City Year's corps members serve full-time as tutors, mentors, and role models in schools for 10 months, providing academic support, leading mentor groups, organizing community activities, and more. Research from Johns Hopkins University reveals that students who are at risk of dropping out can be identified using three early warning signs: poor attendance, disruptive behavior, and course failure in English and math. However, reaching these kids at the right time and with the right intervention can make a huge difference. Thus, City Year is leveraging the enthusiasm of its corps members and the power of national service to help transform low-performing schools and significantly improve America's graduation rates.

To date, City Year's 17,000 corps members have served more than 1,335,000 students and rendered over 26 million hours of service.