Harper adds program to help low-income students

The first two times Ashley Porter tried college, it didn't stick. The McHenry native didn't feel connected to her school.

But when Porter became a mother, she knew she had to go back.

"Before, life got in the way and I allowed myself to be mentally and emotionally consumed with other things," Porter, 29, said in a news release.

Now, she's receiving financial, academic and personal support from One Million Degrees, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that will be expanding its scope into the Northwest suburbs through a partnership with Harper College. The program helps low-income, highly motivated community college students.

"This program has made me part of a community that has high standards and holds me accountable," said Porter, who will earn her associate degree in May from Olive-Harvey College in Chicago and transfer to a four-year school in the fall.

Harper President Ken Ender learned about the program through Melissa Bean, president and CEO at the Executives' Club of Chicago and vice chair of the board at OMD.

The goal is to recruit up to 40 Harper students for the program for the fall 2014 semester, said OMD CEO Paige Ponder.

Scholars benefit from private tutoring, a personal coach, monthly professional development workshops, financial literacy training and financial assistance.