KEY TAKEAWAYS: College Track will begin operating Sept. 8 from a renovated 10,000-square-foot facility on Tulane’s downtown campus. The nonprofit provides 10 years of academic, college and career support, beginning in ninth grade. College Track serves more than 4,100 students nationwide, wit h 90% of participants the first in their families to attend college. The move comes as Tulane expands downtown, including plans to redevelop more than 650,000 square feet of the former Charity Hospital.   Tulane University is expanding its partnership with College Track by bringing the college preparation and completion organization to a newly renovated 10,000-square-foot facility on the university’s downtown New Orleans campus. College Track will begin serving students Sept. 8 at 275 LaSalle St., giving participants access to Tulane’s downtown education, research and innovation district while expanding opportunities for collaboration between the two organizations. College Track operates a 10-year program that provides academic support, mentoring, college preparation and career guidance to students beginning in ninth grade and continuing through college graduation and into their careers. Tulane and College Track have worked together for several years to help students prepare for and complete college. Moving the organization’s New Orleans center to Tulane’s campus is intended to give high school students greater exposure to a university environment before graduation. “College Track has an outstanding record of helping students prepare for college, succeed through graduation and pursue meaningful careers,” said Patrick Norton, Tulane’s senior vice president, chief operating officer and treasurer. “Welcoming College Track to our downtown campus strengthens a bond that connects students with new educational experiences while reinforcing Tulane’s commitment to developing talent, advancing innovation and helping build Louisiana‘s future workforce.” Norton said the partnership is intended to benefit students regardless of which university they ultimately attend. College Track President and CEO Shirley M. Collado said the downtown location will allow participating high school students to experience a higher education environment while they are still preparing for college. “Tulane University has long been a valued partner to College Track, and the alma mater of many of our scholars through the years. Locating our New Orleans center on Tulane’s downtown campus will not only further strengthen our existing relationship, it will provide our high school scholars with the opportunity to be part of a lively and engaging higher education environment well before they graduate,” Collado said. The move comes as Tulane expands its downtown New Orleans footprint. The university announced earlier this summer that it plans to transform more than 650,000 square feet of the former Charity Hospital building into space for the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the Tulane University Innovation Institute. The redevelopment also will include portions of the Tulane School of Medicine, classrooms, interdisciplinary laboratories and community spaces, with facilities planned for approximately 700 researchers. Residential, retail and community gathering spaces are also part of the larger project. College Track serves more than 4,100 high school and college students across California, Colorado, Louisiana and the Washington, D.C.-Maryland region. The nonprofit said 90% of its participants are the first in their families to attend college and 88% come from under-resourced communities. The organization focuses on helping first-generation students earn bachelor’s degrees and transition into careers. College Track said its participants graduate from college at more than 2.5 times the national rate for first-generation students. ...read more read less