Pre-college program expands to Madison, Racine

The university’s innovative pre-college program for minority and disadvantaged students is expanding this summer to Madison and Racine.

Up to 100 minority middle-school students from Madison will take part in the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence, or PEOPLE. The Milwaukee PEOPLE component, meanwhile, will expand this summer to include minority students from Racine, with future expansion targeting minority students from Beloit.

“Studies have demonstrated that college enrollment and graduation rates can be increased by pre-college programs, which encourage students to aspire to the opportunities available through higher education and assist in developing critical academic skills,” says Cleveland James, associate director of undergraduate admissions, who helped develop PEOPLE.

James says current research indicates that of minority students who actively participate in Wisconsin pre-college programs, 98 percent graduate from high school and 70 percent pursue post-secondary education.

“With this in mind, our hope is that PEOPLE will further increase the pool of qualified minority college students,” he says.

PEOPLE is a major component of Plan 2008, the university’s comprehensive initiative to increase campus diversity, and is a priority of Chancellor David Ward.

The program started last summer, when 66 ninth graders from 11 Milwaukee-area high schools spent three weeks on campus studying biological, health and physical sciences, writing and communication. The students also participated in academic enrichment programs and workshops throughout the year in their public schools.

Milwaukee PEOPLE targets ninth-grade students who are of African-American, American Indian, Southeast Asian- American (Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian including Hmong), Chicano/a, Puerto Rican and Latino/a heritage, and economically disadvantaged students. They must have a minimum 2.75 grade point average on a four-point scale.

Madison PEOPLE is partnering with Madison Metropolitan School District to recruit sixth-grade students who are members of the same ethnic groups as those in the Milwaukee program, along with economically disadvantaged students. Priority is given to low-income, targeted minority and potential first-generation college students.

The Madison students will participate in a three-week summer morning program June 4-23. They will study in one of six hands-on workshops: architecture; biological mysteries; computer animation; newspaper publishing; space exploration; or transportation.

After the summer program is complete, the Madison middle-schoolers will participate in a proposed “Saturday Academy” during the academic year. They will focus on improving their reading and writing skills and developing their problem-solving skills using math and science examples.

The Madison component of PEOPLE runs through three years of middle school and four years of high school. The first three years include the three-week summer workshops and the Saturday Academy. Years four and five include a three-week summer program at UW–Madison.

The sixth year provides students a seven-week research program on the UW–Madison campus, followed by an eight-week “bridge to undergraduate” residential program in the seventh year.

Each PEOPLE student admitted to UW–Madison will be eligible for a need- or merit-based tuition grant for up to five years. PEOPLE’s goal is to increase the number of graduating minority students, so they can assume leadership positions in business, community and government.