Peer Mentoring

Increasing college graduation rates among low-income, first-generation college students and students of color is a top priority for the United States, Illinois and for Associated Colleges of Illinois. To accomplish this goal, ACI’s Peer Mentoring Program supports students who arrive at ACI member institutions with risk factors that could prevent them from staying in school and reaching graduation. To counter those risks -– from financial and educational inequities to lack of family experience with higher education — ACI matches these freshmen with trained peer mentors recruited from sophomores, juniors and seniors who faced similar challenges as freshmen.

In academic year 2022-23, the Peer Mentoring Program served 144 students, including 120 mentees and 24 mentors at 11 ACI-member institutions in urban, suburban and rural communities across Illinois. By building a “relationship bridge” between mentees, mentors, the campus community and its support services, ACI’s Peer Mentoring provides an early warning system that can anticipate and address the specific challenges these students face – before those challenges derail a student’s college career.

The 10 ACI Peer Mentoring campuses in 2024-25 are:

“I just want to be that helping hand to help everybody know that you have someone in your corner, and you don’t ever have to feel like you’re alone.”

Adam Price, ACI Peer Mentor, Quincy University ‘23

ACI’s Peer Mentoring operates as follows:

  • Incoming freshmen are selected as mentees because they face potential academic, social or financial risk factors. They are matched with peer mentors of similar backgrounds to mentees who have achieved academic success, have built strong campus connections and who model behaviors considered to be critical elements of student success.
  • Each peer mentor provides ongoing support to five freshman mentees throughout the academic year. Guided by campus coordinators, peer mentors develop individual success action plans matched to each mentees specific needs. Then they provide mentees with support and encouragement to achieve their plans. They also work with campus coordinators to develop activities and services that support mentees’ progress and persistence by staying in school.
  • Peer mentors earn a $2,000 performance-based scholarship for each year they participate. They are expected to attend professional development activities offered by ACI and their campus to build their mentoring skills.
  • Mentees enjoy a close and ongoing relationship with their mentors, benefit from activities and services designed to promote persistence and success in college. They also may access an emergency fund to meet unanticipated needs, including the cost of books, family emergencies and other unexpected expenses.

You can provide critical support to ACI’s Peer Mentoring with a targeted gift to Associated Colleges of Illinois:

$5,500: Funds a Peer Mentoring team for one year at an ACI member campus

$2,000: Provides an ACI peer mentor with a one-year scholarship in exchange for helping younger students stay in college and succeed

$1,500: Funds a campus coordinator to nurture mentors and mentees

$500: Provides program activities and emergency funds for one freshman mentee

$400: Funds training for one mentor

If you have questions about ACI’s Peer Mentoring, contact Program Consultant Leslie Scarpace at ACIPrograms@ACIfund.org.