Pushy parents are often integral in the process of students applying to colleges, and they can be critical for encouraging students who want to transfer from a two- to a four-year institution.

Nine years ago, LaGuardia launched the “Pushy Moms” program that paired volunteers ages 50 and older who have experience in shepherding their own children through the application process to help low-income, first-generation students — many of them immigrants and some here without family.

The program, renamed “Launch!,” which includes “pushy dads,” has collectively helped more than 135 LaGuardia students transfer to a four-year college. The program has helped students successfully matriculate to universities such as Brown, Cornell and Georgetown, while many others have transferred to local city and state schools, where 88% of LaGuardia’s transfers typically go.

For information, contact the LaGuardia Foundation at foundation@lagcc.cuny.edu or (718) 482-5610.