Full Breakdown
Graduate 313 Brings Neighborhood College-Access Hubs to Detroit
8/19/2026, 12:45:26 AM
Core Event
Graduate 313, a partnership between the Jamie and Denise Jacob Family Foundation and the Detroit College Access Network (DCAN), is opening two physical hubs—one on the west side near Plymouth and Evergreen Roads and another in the former Winans Academy building on the east side—“this fall.” Backed by a $3.5 million three-year investment and additional support from the General Motors Foundation and Rocket Community Fund, the initiative will provide one-on-one advising, emergency grants, wraparound services, and college-field-trip programming for middle-school students through adult learners.
Program Design and Goals
The hubs were selected through “asset mapping” to ensure walk-, car-, or bus-accessibility for Detroit residents. Services aim to reduce barriers to post-secondary education, a need highlighted by the U.S. Census Bureau’s finding that only 18 % of Detroit adults hold a bachelor’s degree. Graduate 313 targets 5,000 residents in its first year, assigning participants to one of six advisors and tracking usage data to gauge impact. The effort aligns with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s “Sixty by 30” objective of raising the share of working-age adults with a college degree or skill certificate to 60 % by 2030.
Leadership and Partnerships
- Megan Fenkell – Executive Director, Jamie and Denise Jacob Family Foundation; overseeing the three-year funding commitment.
- Jasmine Brooks – Senior Director of Community Hubs, DCAN; responsible for hub placement and community outreach.
- MiSean Washington – Program Manager, Graduate 313; conducts on-site advising and student support.
DCAN, which has facilitated college access in Detroit since 2012, serves as the program’s intermediary, while Life Remodeled’s Anchor Detroit hub hosts the east-side location.
Official Statements & Verbatim Quotes
Program leaders emphasize the neighborhood-based model as a way to embed college-access resources within residents’ daily lives.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We wondered what would happen if there was a place in Detroit that students all the way from middle school to adult learners could go where they could get the support to get to and through college (or) return to college,” — Megan Fenkell, family foundation executive
- “We’re not only trying to connect them to credentialing and postsecondary planning, but we’re also trying to connect them to the resources that are preventing the barriers that they have right now,” — Community Hubs Jasmine Brooks
