A state agency is hiring recent college graduates to help more students to go to college. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission has four-to-six job openings in the Illinois Quad Cities for employees to work with middle and high school students in families where they'd be the first to go to college.
Jacqui Moreno, from the commission's College Access Initiative, says the jobs are only for people who graduated from college or university within the last two years. That's because teenagers are much more comfortable talking to someone close to their age. She calls them "near-peer mentors."
The new staff members will be based at Illinois schools in the Quad Cities area. They'll work with teachers and principals to develop curricula to help students in that school learn about college and careers, and hold one-on-one meetings with students and parents to answer questions.
The two-year staff positions with the Illinois Student Assistance Commission pay $25,000/year with other benefits. Moreno says the agency provides six weeks of training. Information is online HERE.
