A note about this section: Please don’t feel left out if there are no resources in here for a particular population. I don’t go looking for these, but if a resource comes across my desk, I try to remember to add it to the classroom. If you can think of any useful population-specific resources, let me know!
Another useful site for specific populations may be the University of Illinois Library’s website on college rankings (yes, I know, rankings) because it includes miscellaneous lists of population-specific -- e.g., “bicycle-friendly” -- colleges. Be sure to read their page on “Caution and Controversy.”
NOTE: All college sports that were previously listed individually are now found under Athletes.
Top 100 Degree Producers, from Diverse Issues in Education. Find graduation rates by school, gender, majors, race/ethnicity.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN:
Black Excel’s Quick Guide to HBCU’s and Predominantly HBCU’s
Common Black College Application - students can apply to 36 schools using this application.
HBCUMentors.org - new site.
United Negro College Fund
ATHLETES:
The NHHEAF Network has a very informative “College Planning Guide for Student Athletes” booklet that I picked up at the 2012 NEACAC meeting. To see if you can get a copy, contact them.
NCAA - search schools by division and league.
NCAA High School Portal page.
NCAA Eligibility Center - check eligibility, approved high school courses and what to do here.
NCAA Guide for Student Athletes - free, older edition. The most recent edition is available at a cost here.
BeRecruited.com - recommended by audience members at a session at the 2012 NEACAC Annual Meeting and Conference. Over one million registered users.
Hudl.com - website for posting film highlights, also recommended by audience members at a session at the 2012 NEACAC AMC.
If you Google "Intercollegiate _______" (any sport), you will likely get a useful Wiki that lists programs and associations. Here are a couple of Wiki pages for you (scroll for more sports):
Archers - find listings for varsity teams and club teams.
Bowling - find collegiate bowling information here, at the United States Bowling Congress website.
Dancers - here's the College Dance Team Recruitment page from the National Dance Association.
Equestrian:
College Riding 101 - find college search engine and blog at this site.
Intercollegiate Horse Show Association - find a listing of all current colleges fielding equestrian teams here.
United States Equestrian Federation - find college search engine here.
Fencing - here's a good Wiki with a listing of NCAA schools that offer fencing, as well as links to collegiate fencing organizations.
Figure skaters - U.S. Figure Skating Collegiate Programs
Golfers - the intercollegiate golf associations appear to be regional, but here's a useful site from A2ZColleges.com for you.
Rowers - Guide to College Recruiting for Rowers and Parents, from U.S. Rowing.
Rugby - this Wiki will be useful.
Sailing - Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) - listing of teams.
Water skiing - this page from the National Collegiate Water Ski Association should be helpful.
AUTISTIC:
Autism Beyond High School: Are We Ready? - from the Interactive Autism Network.
Autism Speaks - resources for students and adults with autism.
The Help Group - schools, programs, and services for students and young adults on the spectrum.
Going To College with ASD — good advice and resources listed here for your students with ASD.
Set to Go - wonderful transition to college resource from the JED Foundation.
DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA) (also see UNDOCUMENTED area below):
DACA Toolkit - counselor toolkit from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
TheDream.US - scholarships for DACA students.
Note many colleges and some states will replace unavailable federal funding with institutional or state aid for DACA students. Check your state policies and the policies of schools that visit your school offices.
DROPOUTS:
GED Testing Service, from the American Council on Education (ACE).
Newsela.com - free to individual student users, this teaching tool for schools helping students earn their GED (or learn how to read non-fiction and think about it analytically) comes highly recommended.
EARLY AWARENESS (Middle School Programming):
Financial Football - this financial literacy teaching tool for the classroom includes modules for all age groups.
Adventures in Education
Breakthrough Collaborative
College for Every Student
College: Making It Happen
Dream to Reality
DriveOfYourLife.org - from the Indiana Youth Institute, this site offers resources for counselors, teachers and parents.
Going2College.org
KnowHow2Go.org - for students in grades 8-10.
Mapping Your Future - financial aid information.
Preparing Your Child for College - from the federal government. This is an older, archived link, but still useful. A more recent link to general resources can be found here.
Think College Early - an older link from the federal government.
U.S. Department of Education - toolbox for parents. You’ll also find tools for students and counselors at this site.
Guiding the Way to Higher Education: Step-by-Step to College Workshops - a middle school curriculum from NACAC.
FIRST GENERATION (also see Access Counselors):
Go College! NOW
I’m First - from the Center for Student Opportunity (CSO), resources for first generation students.
StudentMentor.org - a mentor can help you achieve your goals.
FOOD ALLERGIES (I will add more resources as I come across them):
Food Allergy Research and Education — Facts and Statistics
FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKERS (if you know of any good sites to add here, please let me know!):
Consortium of University and College Intensive English Programs -- a consortium of institutions with intensive English programs for foreign-language speakers.
Chinese: Zinch China
Chinese: BayEcho - this is a San Francisco Bay Area website, in Chinese. Likely a great resource for Chinese parents for whom English is a (distant) second language.
Greek: Education Advisory Services - this is an independent consulting firm based in Athens. Included here because they have some free resources for students and parents in Greek, including a glossary of terms.
Spanish: Bienvenidos - resources from ed.gov.
Spanish: Financial Aid help from College Abacus.
FOSTER YOUTH:
Foster Care to Success - scholarships, grants, and programming for foster youth.
“Foster Children: Tips for Filling Out the FAFSA”
“Foster Youth Educational Planning Guide” - terrific publication from California College Pathways.
Foster Care to Success - Casey Family Scholars Program. This site not only has a scholarship program for foster youth, it also has a thorough resources listing of national and local groups and support programs.
GIFTED YOUTH:
“48 Essential Links for the Parents of Gifted Children” - lots of resources in here.
Davidson Institute
Education Program for Gifted Youth
Hoagies' Gifted Education Page
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
MensaForKids.org
Mensa Foundation - scholarships
National Association for Gifted Children
Northwestern University Center for Talent Development
HISPANIC:
Black Excel’s Listing of “Top 100 Colleges Awarding Degrees to Hispanics”
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities - at the Education Tools tab, you will also find early awareness programming for middle school students.
Hispanic Scholarship Fund
CHCI NextOpp - scholarship, internship, and fellowship opportunities for Latino students, from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
Scholarship Resource Guide from MALDEF.
Latino College Dollars
Parents Toolbox, in Spanish
HOMELESS YOUTH:
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
Starting Right, Now - a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing mentoring, stable living conditions, help with finding work, providing financial literacy/life skills education, and educational achievement.
HOMESCHOOLED:
At-home Learning Resources for Kids - from Mensa for Kids.
Homeschool-Friendly Colleges
Resources for Homeschooled Students - a page of links for families that wish to home-school. This site, learninfreedom.org, definitely has an agenda, but this page of links will be very useful to families that wish to homeschool.
LD*:
The 411 on Disability Disclosure - find downloadable PDF at this site.
Reasonable Accommodations Explained — from the APA, this is a good resource to help you understand the difference between accommodations in high school and college.
AHEAD - Association on Higher Education and Disability
CHADD - Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
CLD - Council for Learning Disabilities
College Internship Program - a residential program for students with Asperger’s.
Eye to Eye - a mentoring program.
FERPA - the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
FERPA for Students
HEATH Resource Center, from George Washington University - highly recommended by former students.
The International Dyslexia Association
LD Online: Topics - great page of links to LD-related topics.
LDA - The Learning Disabilities Association of America
NCLD - National Center for Learning Disabilities
New York City Schools: A Parents Guide to Special Education Services for School-Age Children - while this contains a lot of New York-specific information, it contains material that should be helpful for everyone.
PEERS workshops and training for those on the spectrum and those who work with students on the spectrum.
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic
Going To College with ASD — good advice and resources listed here for your students with ASD.
LGBTQ:
CampusPride.org - I understand this group organizes GLBT college fairs. Be sure to visit the Resources area of the website.
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
GLSEN - Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
PFLAG - Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Point Foundation - scholarships.
The Trevor Project - lots of useful educational tools and links here for helping GLBT kids get through this difficult time of their life. They need to know it does get better!
LOW INCOME (also see Access Counselors, other areas of Population-Specific and the financial aid sections in The College Process and Guidance Counselors):
College Goal Sunday - financial aid nights held across the country.
CollegeMatcher - from CollegeMatch, a free search tool designed for low-income households.
Going2College
Pell Abacus - if you qualify for the Free or Reduced Lunch Program, you can estimate your financial aid situation with this tool.
TEEN PARENTS/STUDENTS:
Generation Hope - program that provides mentors, emotional, and financial support to teen parents/students.
NATIVE AMERICAN:
American Indian College Fund
American Indian Higher Education Consortium
Financial Aid for Native Americans Students
Map of Tribal Colleges
Four Scholarships for American Indian Students - an article from U.S. News.
Virtual Library Index of Native American College Resources on the Internet
NON-U.S. CITIZEN:
Federal aid eligibility information from Federal Student Aid (note that, when it comes to financial aid, there is a difference between undocumented, non-U.S. citizen, and international students)
OVERSEAS (also see International Counselors):
The Complete University Guide - a resource for students wishing to learn more about the application process in the United Kingdom.
EducationUSA - resources for U.S. students wishing to study or work abroad and for international students looking to study in the U.S.
Education UK - from the British Council.
Good University Guide, from The Times - another resource for students wishing to study in the U.K.
Institute of International Education - resources for both U.S. and overseas students looking to study, respectively, abroad and in the U.S.
Duolingo - many colleges are beginning to accept the Duolingo English Language Test in place of the TOEFL and IELTS.
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
UAC International - an application platform for students who wish to apply to Australian universities (not all schools use this application, and not all students are eligible to use it, but most, if not all, of the universities have their own direct applications you can use).
UCAS.com - the official application site for studying in the UK.
UK Council for International Student Affairs — find answers to fee status questions and more at this site.
BachelorsPortal.eu - search undergraduate programs in countries worldwide. This site also has a search area for graduate degrees worldwide.
Study in Europe - another search option for study in Europe.
Study in Austria
Maclean's - find Canadian colleges, create your own "ranking" by weighting your preferences!
Study in the Czech Republic
Campus France
International Programmes in Germany
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program - traveling abroad? Get traveler alerts from the Bureau of Consular Affairs.
Study In Holland - over 1700 programs and courses are taught in English in Holland.
Study in Italy
Study in Scotland
Study in Sweden
PHYSICALLY DISABLED/SPECIAL MEDICAL NEEDS*:
A Guide for College Students with Visual Impairments - from Best Colleges.
Able USA - a website dedicated to helping individuals and families dealing with special needs.
Above and Beyond - chart of colleges that go above and beyond ADA-mandated accommodations for physically-disabled students.
College Admissions Guide if You've Had a Brain Tumor or Traumatic Brain Injury - wonderful resource written by a former student.
College Diabetes Network - wonderful site on living with diabetes on campus and beyond.
High School vs. College Chart
Home Remodeling for People with Physical Disabilities - quite a few useful links at this site, from Expertise.com
Making Home Modifications for Children with Disabilities - from Handyworkxmobility.com
New Mobility - a listing of wheelchair-friendly schools at newmobility.com
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic
PLANET-LOVING:
Eco League
Sierra Club’s Top 10 Schools - I would add College of the Atlantic and Unity.
In RECOVERY:
Collegiate Recovery Communities: A Guide for Students in Recovery - note I have not yet explored this site.
The Haven at College - residences and outpatient centers near campuses.
RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED:
Catholic Colleges Online
Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
Going Somewhere? - link to downloadable guide to Jewish life at Canadian universities.
Hillel: Jewish Campus Life - college search tool with an emphasis on Jewish campus presence and life.
Hillel’s Guide to Jewish Life at Colleges and Universities - also from Hillel.org.
MSA National - resources for Muslim students
SINGLE PARENTS:
“Child Friendly College Programs for Parents” - informative article on schools with housing and programming for single parents.
Single Parents Alliance of America - scholarships and grants.
THIRD CULTURE AND CROSS-CULTURAL STUDENTS:
Families in Global Transition
International Family Transitions
TCKidNow
TRANSFERS:
Common Application Transfer Resources - Common Application now has now created an application for transfers.
NACAC Knowledge Center - transfer resource page.
Transferology - designed to help students explore transfer options and figure out which of your courses will transfer to participating schools.
UNDOCUMENTED:
Advising Undocumented Students - from the College Board.
College Advising Guide for Undocumented Students - from the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC).
College Board - listing of resources for undocumented students, including scholarships.
Educators for Fair Consideration - resources for undocumented students.
Mexican/Latino American Legal Defense/Education Fund - scholarships for undocumented students.
White House Initiative: Resource Guide on Supporting Undocumented Students in High School and College - from the Department of Education.
TheBestColleges.org has a series of useful guides for undocumented students:
College Success Guide
College Protections
Knowing Your Rights
Advocacy and Support
Financial Aid Guide
Colleges for Undocumented Students - provides information on which states provide in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented students.
Online College Guide for Undocumented Students
* It is important for learning- and physically-challenged students to understand there is a difference between providing accommodations under the law and being disability friendly (disability friendly meaning they go above and beyond Federal and State requirements to meet the your needs). You are not doing yourself or the college(s) any favors if you are less than honest with yourself and/or the institutions you apply to about your challenges and needs, as you will have a better chance of an optimal college experience if you go to a college that has the depth of services you need and loves you just the way you are.