FGCU study measures impact of Immokalee college prep program
- Bill Studenc
- November 5, 2024
- Community
- Contributors: Guadalupe Center photos
5 – minute read
Graduates of a college preparatory initiative designed to help Immokalee High School students break the poverty cycle through education go on to achieve higher incomes and enjoy greater personal and professional satisfaction than classmates who don’t participate in the program.
That’s among the findings of research by faculty members in Florida Gulf Coast University’s Lutgert College of Business partnering with the Guadalupe Center to examine the impact of the center’s Tutor Corps Program. The nonprofit organization offers educational opportunities to Immokalee students — many of them first-generation college students from migrant families — to help achieve economic independence.
Tutor Corps provides students with mentorship, guidance, academic counseling and other support throughout high school. Participants also work as paid tutors who assist younger students and earn money to help with future college expenses.
The program’s connection to FGCU runs deeper than this recent research collaboration. Approximately one of every four Tutor Corps graduates goes on to earn a bachelor’s degree from FGCU, according to Guadalupe Center. Seven are currently enrolled, including Jose Agustin Beltran Meza, a sophomore majoring in construction management. He credits the program with helping set him on his higher education path.
“Although I was born in the U.S., I didn’t grow up here. I had no idea what I needed to do to go to college and apply for scholarships,” he said. “Tutor Corps guided me through the process. Additionally, they made it possible for me to visit most of Florida’s universities as well as two outside of Florida. I’m not sure I’d be where I am if it weren’t for them.”
Eye-opening findings
To gauge Tutor Corps’ success, faculty members in FGCU’s Department of Economics and Finance collaborated with Dawn Montecalvo, Guadalupe Center president, to design a survey of Immokalee High School alumni. The study was led by finance instructor Tom Mathews and economics associate professor Amelia Biehl.
“Sampling people who attended Immokalee High School between 2004 and 2019, some of whom graduated from Tutor Corps and others who did not, allowed us to assess the impacts of the program on participants’ adult lives, relative to a closely related peer group,” Mathews said.
Researchers, including Biehl and economics associate professor Krishna Regmi, combined survey data with state and national averages to compare measures of success for Tutor Corps graduates against student cohorts elsewhere. The findings were eye-opening, Mathews said.
“Compared to other young adults who attended Immokalee High School between 2004 and 2019, Tutor Corps graduates are more likely to earn a college degree, earn $70,000 or more, out-earn their parents, report being satisfied with their personal and professional lives, have health insurance, contribute to a retirement plan, travel for vacation and volunteer in their communities,” he said. “Not only are Tutor Corps graduates experiencing more objective measures of success than their peers, but they are attributing this success to the program.”
The survey revealed that 85% of Tutor Corps graduates believe participation in the initiative made them feel “empowered to overcome barriers,” and 94% said the program was instrumental in helping them “transform life for the better.”
The study should arm the Guadalupe Center with additional evidence of the value of its efforts to lift up underserved members of Southwest Florida, Mathews said.
“Economic research, including the results of this study, should be used to improve the world,” he said. “Evidence suggests Tutor Corps is improving the lifetime trajectory of graduates’ lives in ways that not only affect the graduate but also the community through increased engagement and levels of volunteerism and decreased reliance on public assistance. I hope the Tutor Corps Program uses these results to highlight how they are changing the world, especially in our backyard.”
Inspiring success
FGCU undergrad Beltran Meza learned about Tutor Corps from his guidance counselor, who recommended the program after he told her he wanted to find a job and simultaneously “mature as a man.” Tutor Corps offered the opportunity to meet both of those goals, he said.
“I was a tutor for elementary school students. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had. Part of why I liked tutoring elementary students is because I’ve grown the desire to be a dad, and that was one of the closest things I’ve gotten to becoming a dad so far. I remember some students wishing I were their older brother. That brought me joy knowing I was someone they looked up to,” he said.
“When you become a tutor for someone younger, you become what some of them don’t have — a role model. No, you are not replacing their parents, but you do become someone who can give them some guidance. Trust me, there aren’t many things as satisfying as seeing someone grow and change for the better because someone had a little trust in them,” said Beltran Meza, who aspires to own a construction business after graduating.
That’s the sort of success story that inspired Mathews to get involved with Tutor Corps after he first visited the Guadalupe Center’s growing facilities in 2018.
“We decided we should be supporters of the program since the work being done at the center was transformational for the local community,” Mathews said.
“The stories I hear about the drive, perseverance and energy of the students in the program are most touching. They work diligently to overcome numerous hurdles and change the economic future of their families and themselves.”