By Tori Smith
A slew of arrows point every in every direction on the floor at the College Depot office in the Burton Barr Central Library. Illustrated on the green carpet, the arrows have been there for 15 years.
The architect who designed the space said it represented the different paths that students were going to take once they worked with the team at College Depot, and after 15 years and over 230,000 visits, that architect was surely right.
Through a partnership between the Phoenix Public Library and the Phoenix Public Library Foundation, funders are able to provide access to resources that directly benefit the students who visit College Depot. The Phoenix Public Library supports the staff and infrastructure, while the Phoenix Public Library Foundation stewards grants received from funders, including The Burton Family Foundation, to support programming and resources for students.
The concept of College Depot started with Deborah “Debbie” Dillon, who passed in 2021. Dillon worked at the Arizona Department of Education and the City of Phoenix Education Office, which spearheaded the creation of College Depot in 2009. Today, College Depot has a scholarship and an auditorium named after Dillon in recognition of her early vision and leadership that shaped the program.
With the vision to create a community-based college access center, the Phoenix Youth and Education Office convened representatives from organizations, colleges, and universities interested in access for first-generation college students. That’s where College Depot director, Judy Reno, was first introduced to the program.
Reno had been working in admissions at the University of Arizona and was selected as the program's director after serving on the planning committee. She said she loved the idea of doing admissions in a neutral way that worked for everyone, rather than focusing on helping students in one particular institution.
Over the 16 years Reno has been involved with College Depot, and the 15 years that it’s been serving the community, she said one of the biggest changes is that its model has changed over the years.
It was originally more of an outreach organization, because it takes a lot of trust building with your community to get people to come to the program, she said. Now, the model has pivoted to be more of an in-person venue and a one-on-one appointment destination.
College Depot has many different programs to serve Phoenix’s student population, but one-on-one appointments, where students are able to come and ask for help with any of their questions, are by far the most popular service offering. Appointments are offered in Spanish and English, and students can set up an in-person appointment with one of the advisers or they can meet with one virtually.
In fact, the one-on-one appointments are so popular that in 2025, College Depot will be expanding their office to include additional spaces to support more of those conversations.
One of the possible reasons that College Depot’s personal appointments are popular may be because of the shortage of guidance counselors in Arizona. In fact, the American School Counselor’s Association found that Arizona had the nation’s highest student-to-counselor ratio in 2022-2023, with just one counselor for every 667 students in comparison to the recommended ratio of one counselor for every 250 students.
Another popular service that College Depot provides is helping students and families with filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students can make those one-on-one appointments, or they can participate in FAFSA workshops.
College Depot has recorded 233,860 student visits since its inception, with a record 52,344 visits in its most recent fiscal year ending June 2024. One of the reasons for so many student visits over the past year is because of a number of FAFSA glitches and complications that occurred, creating confusion and uncertainty for many students. Nationwide, these complications led to a 9% decline in FAFSA applications among first time applicants, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found.
“We are the paperwork experts,” Reno said, talking about the FAFSA. “There’s no nut that we can’t crack.”
FAFSA workshops and one-on-one student appointments aren’t the only services offered at College Depot. College Depot is also the home of the GRIT, ReEngage Phoenix, and Craft a Profession programs.
GRIT, which stands for Graduating Ready, Independent, and Tenacious, pairs a student with an adviser who helps them through all steps of the college access process: college planning, financial aid, and admissions. They meet either in-person or virtually with their adviser throughout the school year to make sure they’re staying on track.
ReEngage Phoenix is for students who haven’t yet received their high school diploma or GED and are looking to change that.
The Craft a Profession program provides one-on-one customized support to those who are interested in pursuing an apprenticeship, walking the student through the details of what it is, and determining if it seems like the right fit for the student.
College Depot also has a very robust scholarship page, with workshops to help students navigate a range of scholarship opportunities.
Reno said she’s never been bored in sixteen years, and there’s always something new to try and figure out. College Depot has been providing access to local students for 15 years, and they are going to continue to do so as they expand their offices to build capacity for more students and conversations.
“We serve the masses and we level the playing field in education,” she said. “We try to make sure that everyone is provided with the same opportunity for success.”
To learn more about College Depot, please visit phoenixpubliclibrary.org/collegedepot.
Photo courtesy of the Phoenix Public Library.