IMPACT Program

At One Dream, we believe students deserve more than help getting in. They deserve someone who stays with them as they move through their next step and into a career that can sustain them.

The IMPACT Program, Investing in Mentorship, Pathways, Achievement, Careers, and Transition, provides tailored support for students pursuing college, skilled trades, technical training, military service, apprenticeships, or other postsecondary pathways that lead to thriving careers.

We pay attention to whether students are moving forward in the pathway they chose. That may mean staying enrolled in college, earning credits, progressing through an apprenticeship or training program, completing a credential, overcoming financial or personal barriers, and preparing for the next step into a career. 

One Dream monitors student progress across key transition and persistence indicators, including enrollment, financial aid completion, credit accumulation, SAP status, retention, completion progress, and movement toward career-connected next steps.

For students pursuing 2- and 4- year college degrees. 

For students choosing college, our support begins before high school graduation and continues after they arrive on campus. We help students choose schools and programs that fit their goals, complete applications and financial aid, understand what college will actually cost, and take care of the steps needed to enroll.

Once students graduate from high school, we stay with them. We help make sure financial aid is in place, registration is complete, and nothing gets in the way of starting in the fall. After college begins, we continue checking in and helping students work through academic, financial, personal, or institutional challenges that could knock them off course.

Our goal is not simply to help students get into college. We want them to stay, finish, and move into the career and life they worked toward.

• Choosing the Right College and Program:  We help students explore colleges, majors, certificate programs, and other options so they can choose a path that fits their goals, interests, finances, and circumstances. We support applications, admissions decisions, and the steps needed to make an informed choice. 
• Paying for College:  We help students and families complete the FAFSA or CASFA, understand financial aid offers, look for scholarships, resolve financial aid problems, and make sense of what they will actually be expected to pay. 
• Getting From High School to Campus:  Graduation is not the finish line. We stay connected through the summer to help students complete registration, financial aid, orientation, housing, placement, and other requirements so they are ready to begin when classes start. 
• Staying on Track and Finishing:  Once students are enrolled, we continue checking in. We help with course planning, financial aid renewals, academic problems, SAP appeals, changing majors, transferring schools, and other challenges that can interrupt a student’s education. When something goes wrong, we help students figure out what happened, what their options are, and how to keep moving forward. 

For students choosing the skilled trades, apprenticeships, or technical training, our support begins before high school graduation and continues as they move into training and work. We help students explore different trades and careers, understand how apprenticeship and training programs work, compare their options, and choose a pathway that fits their interests, goals, and circumstances.

We also help students through the steps it takes to actually get started. That can include finding apprenticeship or training programs, completing applications, gathering required documents, preparing for entrance exams and interviews, and working through practical issues such as transportation, a driver's license, tools, equipment, or other costs.

Once students apply, we stay connected through testing, interviews, enrollment, and placement. After they begin an apprenticeship or training program, we continue checking in and helping them work through problems that could get in the way of completing their training and moving forward in their career.

Our goal is not simply to help students find a trade. We want them to get into the right program, succeed in it, complete their training or apprenticeship, and build a career that can support them and their families.

• Finding the Right Trade or Training Program:  We help students explore skilled trades, apprenticeships, technical programs, and other hands-on career options. Students learn what different careers involve, what training is required, how long programs take, what they can expect to earn, and what opportunities are available after completion. 
• Union Apprenticeship Partnerships:  We help students identify apprenticeship and training opportunities and work through the application process. That may include applications, required documents, résumé and interview preparation, entrance exams, math or reading preparation, and referrals to pre-apprenticeship programs when additional preparation would help. 
• Getting Started:  Getting accepted is only part of the transition. We help students prepare for what comes next, including enrollment or onboarding requirements, transportation, driver's license needs, tools and equipment, required clothing, and other costs or practical issues that could keep them from starting successfully.
• Staying on Track and Building a Career:  We stay connected after students begin training or an apprenticeship. We help them work through financial, personal, academic, workplace, or transportation problems that could interrupt their progress. As they move forward, we help them understand their next steps toward completing the program, earning credentials, advancing in their trade, and building a long-term career. 

The IMPACT Program is built around a simple goal: helping students choose a path that fits them, get started, stay on track, finish what they started, and move into a career that can support them and their families.

We want students to:

1. Understand their options and make an informed choice. Students should know that college is not the only path after high school. We help them explore college, apprenticeships, skilled trades, technical training, military service, and other opportunities so they can choose what fits their interests, goals, and circumstances. 
2. Successfully enter the pathway they choose. Whether that means completing college applications and financial aid, registering for classes, applying for an apprenticeship, preparing for an entrance exam or interview, or meeting training requirements, we help students get through the steps between choosing a path and actually starting it. 
3. Stay on track when challenges come up. We remain connected after high school and help students work through the financial, academic, personal, workplace, transportation, or other problems that can interrupt their progress. 
4. Complete their degree, credential, apprenticeship, or training program. Getting in is only the beginning. We want students to finish what they started and leave with the education, skills, experience, and credentials they need for what comes next. 
5. Move into a meaningful career and build long-term stability. Ultimately, our goal is for students to turn their education and training into work that provides opportunity, financial stability, and a stronger foundation for themselves and their families.