College Horizons Inc

“A draft of the form 990 is provided to at least two officers for review prior to filing. The form 990 is provided to the full board at their next meeting.”

“Annually officers, directors and key employees sign a statement which affirms such person a) has received a copy of the conflict of interest policy; b) has read and understands the policy; c) has agreed to comply with the policy; and d) understands the organization is charitable and in order to maintain its federal tax exemption it must engage primarily in activities that accomplish one or more of its tax exempt purpose.”

“Independent members of the board of directors periodically reviews the executive director's compensation by reviewing compensation of similar organizations for equivalent position in the same community, geographic area and operational budget. The uniqueness of the executive director's background, education and experience is also considered. The executive director's job performance and prior compensation arrangements are also reviewed along with the overall budget and financial health of the organization. This process is documented.”

“Governing documents, policies, financial statements and the irs form 990 are made available to the public upon request within three working days of the date the request was made. Board information, financial statements and the irs 990 are also available on the coros website of the new mexico attorney general's office.”

“College horizons (ch) is a college access, college success and pre-graduate organization that serves native american, alaska native and native hawaiian high school and college students. In response to covid-19 pandemic, the college horizons and scholars programs transitioned in-person summer programs to successfully implement remote programs in june and july 2021, serving 220 students , 114 faculty, 51 colleges and universities, in 15 remote classrooms across 6 time zones. The mission of college horizons (ch) is to support the higher education of native american youth. College horizons is a college-access, college- success and pre-graduate organization that services native american, alaska native, and native hawaiian high school and college students. The goals of ch are to: 1) increase the higher education rate of native american and native hawaiian high school and college students by providing pre-college (college horizons) and pre-graduate (graduate horizons) admission/financial aid counseling programs to native american students and, 2) to increase their college completion by providing academic, social, emotional and culturally relevant college support services (scholars program) to students. College horizons is a national non-profit organization based in new mexico with an office located on the santa ana pueblo reservation. We are comprised of 6 full time staff members, an 8 member board of directors, and an advisory council consisting of alumni, parents, faculty, and native/tribal educators. Ch was founded in 1998 by dr. Whitney laughlin at the native american preparatory school located in rowe, nm and initially served native students in the southwest region. By 2001 ch expanded service nation-wide and was hosted on college campuses. In 2005 ch received federal designation as a 501c(3) non-profit organization. Statement of need: in this millennial time of nation building, investing in the capacity of native youth remains as critical as ever as over one-third of the native population is under the age of 18. Tribal leaders prioritize educational endeavors in order to equip their youth with the resources and tools to meet their full potential as individuals and to become self- sufficient as contributing members of the community and nation. And yet in this new millennia, according to national achievement results, the overall state of education for native students has remained flat or widened in comparison to their white peers: high school graduation rate at 69%, direct enrollment in college at 52%, and college completion in 6 years at 39%.”

“College access & readiness: college horizons is a pre-college program for native american high school students open to current sophomores and juniors from across the nation. The ch programs are delivered in person and are held on a college/university campus for one week over the summer. The intensive "boot-camp" on the college admission process allows students to work one-on-one with college admissions officers, expert guidance counselors, or university professors and administrators on the admissions and financial aid process. The individualized program helps students select colleges suitable for them to apply to, get admitted to, and receive adequate financial aid. Students research their top 10 schools; complete college essays, resumes, the common application and a preliminary fafsa; receive interviewing skills and test-taking strategies (on the act and sat); receive financial aid/scholarship information and resources; and learn unique strategies on how to be resilient and successful native students in college.”

“Pre-graduate advising: graduate horizons is a four-day workshop assisting native american college students, college graduates, and master's students in preparing for competitive graduate and professional school admissions (master's, doctoral, professional degrees). Gh partners with 45 universities where admission officers, professors, and deans mentor and advise potential applicants on the admission process professional/career development, and the various fields of study, research, and graduate programs available. Participants of the program complete graduate ready personal statements/statements of purpose, resume/cv's, and applications; receive test-taking strategies from the princeton review foundation on the gre, gmat, lsat, mcat; understand the financial aid process for graduate school and learn about graduate scholarships/fellowships; attend seminars on the admission process (letters of recommendations, academic/transcript/testing critique, how to determine the right match in a degree program; role of direct/relevant work experience, etc.). Cohorts consist of: arts & humanities, business, management & entrepreneurship; education; law; health sciences; public/tribal policy; stem; social sciences. Approximately 30%of college horizons alumni participate in the graduate program as part of our pipeline initiatives.”

“The scholars pathway program (spp) is a summer program designed to empower native american, alaska native and native hawaiian college horizons alumni in their transition from high school to college. In the spp, the students will complete a 4-year pathway program that includes four, remote and virtual activities: a 1-week transition-to-college bridge program for rising first-year students, a 1-week introduction to indigenous research methodologies for rising sophomores (includes a stipend), a 3-day pre- graduate & research institute for rising juniors, and a 3-day graduate horizons for rising seniors. Throughout the year, students will receive academic coaching and opportunities to engage through a more robust and contiguous scholars pathway program (spp) to better meet their mentoring, academic, socio-emotional, pre-graduate advising, and research needs. The scholars program will prepare students by addressing their holistic needs to be successful and help make their higher education journey relevant by connecting their culture and community to college. Students will further develop their academic skills by learning success strategies that will include topics such as mindset, resilience, interdependence, as well as traditional academic skills including note-taking, test preparation, study strategies, and time management. In addition to teaching academic preparation, the scholars program will help develop skills around resiliency and understanding the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, gender and tribal citizenship in higher education. The scholars program uses holistic and indigenous frameworks to prepare students in their mental, physical, cultural and spiritual development. Our goal is to strengthen students with the tools to becoming critically conscious of the higher educational structural inequalities by addressing settler colonialism, racism, decolonization, racial equity, transformative resistance, social justice and healing. In 2021 ch hosted two remote programs serving a total of 220 students, 114 college admission officers, volunteer high school counselors, tribal educators and college professors, and 51 partner colleges/universities. The college horizons high school remote program was held july 9 - july 16 and the scholars program was held july 11 - 23.”