"I cannot imagine having to navigate a time like this without a mentor or a coach, or an organization similar to College Possible," said Precious Mines, program director for College Possible Philadelphia.
College Possible is a nonprofit organization aimed at helping low-income first generation students gain access to and succeed through college.
Mines said right now, the most pressing question from families of graduating high school seniors is what to do about school in the fall.
"Many of our families have lost their resources, lost jobs and you know you have make your deposit," she said.
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Jasmine Winchester, a graduating senior at Mastbaum High School, is still trying to decide if she wants to defer college for a year or attend what will likely be at online semester.
"I'm still trying to go to college because I don't know of anybody that has finished it," she shared. "I know people that have started it in my family, but they never finished college."
Winchester isn't the only one wondering that. For some who were already facing challnges, the coronavirus is putting college even more out of reach, according to Mines, and wondering if they should defer.
"It's widely known that students that are of a low-income background, they tend to not necessarily thrive when they have to do online learning," said Mines.
"The money that I have to put into college, I wouldn't want to do all that just to do everything online," Winchester agreed.
As for where she wants to attend, she hasn't decided that either. "I don't want to commit to a college and the virus is still going around so I don't know what college I'm going to yet," she said.
Mines said counselors can help students like Jasmine figure out the best plan for her situation. She's also heartbroken for this year's college graduates who are the first College Possible graduating class.
"Can you imagine being the first in your family to graduate college and get to this point and not have the privilege to walk across that stage?" she asked.