Connections

How to make college more accessible to all students

By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack, Julie Williams

Published October 2, 2024 at 3:07 PM EDT

Three smiling people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: the man on the left has dark hair and a dark beard and is wearing a black fleece; the woman in the center has shoulder length dark blonde hair and is wearing a green blouse; the man on the right has short dark hair and is wearing a dark grey long sleeved button down shirt, jeans and sneakers; there is a grey t-shirt with green and yellow writing that says "FAFSA" on the table in front of him. — Phil Hounshell and Amy Stein on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, October 2, 2024

A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.

College enrollment has declined 6.5 percent since the pandemic, according to a new report.

We talk with the team from the Rochester Education Foundation about a number of their programs related to college access, future opportunities, and more.

Our guests:

Amy Stein, executive director of the Rochester Education Foundation
Phil Hounshell, director of college access and success programs for the Rochester Education Foundation

Connections

Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.

See stories by Evan Dawson

Megan Mack

Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.

See stories by Megan Mack

Julie Williams

Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson" and is also the office administrator for radio, news and technology and operations. She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.

See stories by Julie Williams