History
FCE Organizational HistoryChristopher Roe and Glenn Singleton founded FCE in 1995 with the goal of providing no-cost college advising services to high school juniors and seniors. FCE’s first students attended Woodside High School in Redwood City. In 1997, FCE established a formal collaboration with the Palo Alto Unified School District Voluntary Transfer Program (VTP), a court-ordered desegregation program that allows East Palo Alto families to send their children to school in Palo Alto and other local communities.
In 2022, Elizabeth Wells joined as FCE’s Executive Director, poised to lead FCE during this next chapter of its history.
Model Recognition
- FCE was recognized as a model college access organization by the Lumina Foundation.
- The Educational Policy Institute (EPI) recognized FCE as one of ten outstanding college access organizations in their publication, A Blueprint for Success: Case Studies of Successful Pre-College Outreach Programs.
- Palo Alto Weekly and the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce awarded FCE the Tall Tree Award for Outstanding Non-Profit.
- Excelencia in Education awarded FCE a Program to Watch for 2022 in Examples of Excelencia. College Bound has been highlighted by the organization as one that improves success rates for Latinx students in higher education.
Success Stories Videos
Though filmed several years ago, these two-minute videos offer insight into how FCE has helped students and parents. Click on a video to view.
Anna Waring, PhD
Anna, executive director from 2007 – 2018, explains Foundation for a College Education’s approach to increasing the number of low-income students of color from East Palo Alto who graduate from a 4-year college.
Pablo Hernandez
Pablo’s two children were part of the FCE program. He explains how the program eased the college-going process for his family and impacted his children’s education.
Joyce, Mary, and Rachael Latu
Joyce, Mary, and Rachael all went through the FCE program. Hear about their personal journeys.
Charles Edwards
Charles is an FCE alumnus who served on the Board of Directors for many years. Here, he tells the story of his involvement with FCE and how he benefitted from the program.