University of Puget Sound announced their partnership this week with the Posse foundation, a national organization dedicated to providing full-ride scholarships to students from diverse backgrounds with excellent academic and leadership potential.
The foundation has partnered with over 52 colleges and universities that partner with a specific geographical area to recruit students involved with the Posse foundation with the offer of a full-tuition scholarship.
University of Puget Sound is set to recruit from the Bay Area of San Francisco. The University will commit to providing full-tuition scholarships to 10 students from the San Francisco Bay Area, who are Posse scholars.
“Puget Sound’s enrollment philosophy is guided by our commitment to identify and support students who demonstrate potential in making the most of their college education. Posse is a transformational program that improves the lives of students and the institutions that they attend,” Jenny Rickard, Puget Sound’s vice president for enrollment, said in a recent press release. “We have many alumni and current students from the Bay Area, and are excited to welcome our first group of Posse Scholars next year.”
This program supports access to college for more than 6,000 academically and leadership-driven students from historically underrepresented groups in collegiate settings.
University of Puget Sound will join colleges such as Dartmouth, Cornell, University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, Los Angeles as partner institutions with the Posse foundation. Puget Sound will become the first undergraduate school in the Pacific Northwest to have a Posse program.
Posse scholars have gone on to attend graduate programs at nationally recognized institutions such as Yale and Johns Hopkins. 43 Fulbright scholarships have been given to previous Posse scholars. Alumni have gone on to to become lawyers, scoial workers and surgeons among other occupations.
“We are honored to be named a Posse college and further extend our commitment to making college affordable for academically talented students from diverse backgrounds,” President Ronald Thomas said in a press release. “The Posse program is unique in its approach to providing the training and support that helps students realize their academic and leadership potential, and make substantial contributions to the campus communities that they transform over the course of their four years.”
The program will be supported by donations and the board of trustees.
The students who will be involved in Puget Sound’s posse program will work as a cohort for their first and sophomore years here.
This is meant to create a close-knit group of individuals in order to help the scholars succeed academically and otherwise.
Additionally, the Posse scholars program promotes campus involvement and engagement among its scholars. Even as high school students, the Posse foundation promotes leadership and academic excellence among its scholars.
For more information or to nominate a high school student you can visit www.possefoundation.org.
