This report describes the results of the Gulf County (Florida) College Counseling Project designed to raise the educational aspirations of students in rural areas who would otherwise stop their education upon completion of high school. It also describes how and why scores of young people from poor and working class homes in the Florida Panhandle were enabled to make their own investment in higher education, and sketches a model that can be readily applied elsewhere. The report chronicles the story of two schools, Port St. Joe and Wewahitchka, and the college counseling program that changed them, and demonstrates how college counseling can be a powerful force in school improvement. In addition, it traces the program from its origins to its working components, offering a step by step approach to help communities implement their own successful college counseling program. Appendices provide empirical measures indicating school and community improvement and a chronology of the Gulf County project. (GLR)