12 Plus

12 Plus is an organization that works to empower young students in Philadelphia who otherwise would not have had access to a higher level of education, and therefore would not be able to go to college.  They work to provide students with access to education that schools the Philadelphia School District simply cannot provide to an inner city school, while kids just 10 miles outside of Philadelphia have access to it (from their website: "Lower Merion, an affluent school district just outside Philadelphia, claims that 96% of graduating students enroll in post-secondary programs." 
Philadelphia has a 27% poverty level, 75% of public high school students in Philadelphia come from low-income families, Philadelphia Public High Schools have a 250 : 1 student to counselor ratio, and over 50% of Philadelphia Public High Schools do not have a college access program.

Therefore, they provide the basic human rights of equal, fair, and progressive education to kids who otherwise would have dropped out or turned to other, not so great options. The students are immersed in a school environment that advocates and supports their post-secondary goals. The organization claims that when students are expected to go to college, they are more likely to try harder in their courses and make the connection between their coursework and their future success in careers. This leads to higher attendance rates, higher grades, and more students both enrolling and graduating with post-secondary degrees. 

In addition, the Philadelphia school system is going through a series of terrible budget cuts--therefore, In an effort to combat these budget cuts, 12 Plus opened the first Plus Center in the Kensington Health Sciences Academy (KHSA) during the 2012-2013 school year and expanded their services to the entire school of 350 students. Since the start of 12 Plus programming, Kensington Health Sciences Academy enrollment rate has increased from 11% to over 50%. They are projected to increase the post-secondary rate to over 80% for the 2012-2013 year.