Shavondra Britton had a pretty typical high school experience.
“They focused all the time on going to college,” said the 21-year-old African American, currently a junior psychology major at the University of Illinois-Springfield. But she had no help with the process: “I had to figure out the rest. How to pay was overwhelming,” she added.
Britton is the first person in her family to go to college. Her mother, raising three younger children on a clerical salary, cannot afford to contribute.
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