Each year, College Signing Day on May 1st marks the start of thousands of Americans’ higher education journey. It is also the five year anniversary of Reach Higher, the initiative launched by former First Lady Michelle Obama to inspire every student to “take charge of their future” by furthering their education past high school.
Since Reach Higher’s launch in 2014, hundreds of thousands of students have been supported and encouraged to achieve their aspirations through the initiative’s signature programs, including College Signing Day, Better Make Room, the Beating the Odds Summit.
While college access will remain a priority, initiative leaders are working to make college completion and equitable student outcomes a significant part of their work to support students going forward.
“The idea that Reach Higher is still around and building a college-going culture five years later means that we’ve made tremendous progress, but there’s still so much more work to do,” said Eric Waldo, executive director of Reach Higher. “We know that in today’s global knowledge-based economy, some education past high school has to be the goal for every young person. It’s not a secret that college is worth it. It is worth it and we know that’s the thing that will help students achieve their dreams, will help them enter the middle class, will help them live longer, healthier and more productive lives.”
Reach Higher will be celebrating its anniversary and College Signing Day at the University of California, Los Angeles, where about 10,000 students, who are predominantly first-generation and low-income from the greater Los Angeles area, will hear from Obama and more than 50 artists, athletes, celebrities, musicians, gamers and others. The entire University of California system will have College Signing Day events on their campuses as well.
This year’s College Signing Day will engage students online and at more than 3,000 events across all 50 states – a significant uptick from the couple dozen events in 2014, Waldo pointed out. Online, individuals will be posting using the hashtags #CollegeSigningDay and #BetterMakeRoom.
“You’re going to see incredible and inspirational photos of students around the country talking about where they’re going and what they’re going to do with their education and their lives,” Waldo said. “You’ll also see thousands of adults talking about their education and posting pictures of where they went to school and how education changed their lives.”
