I am thrilled to announce a new Colorado College program, Stroud Scholars, that will expand our efforts to increase accessibility and help students from communities historically excluded from higher education forge a path to college.

The program will prepare students for higher education by working directly with high-promise youth in the Pikes Peak Region who aspire to attend college but face barriers to college acceptance and success.

Stroud Scholars, which seeks to create an innovative college access model and become a leader in the college access field, is being developed by the CC Collaborative for Community Engagement, Office of Admission, Department of Education, Summer Session, and faculty from diverse disciplines.

Stroud Scholars' goal is to offer a developmental pathway starting the summer after a student's first year of high school and ending with the successful transition into Colorado College or another intentionally chosen college or university. For three summers, at no cost to the students or their families, CC will host participants on campus for a three-week summer academy.

During this time, students will take classes with CC faculty focusing on quantitative reasoning and writing skills to ensure they are academically prepared for a selective academic environment. Participants also will engage in programming designed to help them prepare for the college admissions and financial aid processes. Students successfully completing the three-year program will earn admission to CC and receive a comprehensive financial aid package.

An outstanding college education should be within reach for highly talented students in our own backyard who simply need opportunity and support. Through the Stroud Scholars program, we will work with area schools to identify high-achieving students and prepare them for success in college and beyond.

Stroud Scholars is being launched in collaboration with local schools and community organizations, and is aimed at supporting students who are the first generation in their family to attend college, low income, and/or students of color who attend schools relatively under-resourced in college readiness support.

The program is named in honor of siblings Kelley Dolphus Stroud and Effie Stroud Frazier, both members of the CC Class of 1931 and graduates of what was then known as Colorado Springs High School (now William J. Palmer High School).

Application information for Stroud Scholars will be available beginning Nov. 15. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 15, 2020, with the program launching in July 2020 with a class of 25 students from the Pikes Peak Region.

Stroud Scholars is the third recently announced Colorado College program aimed at increasing accessibility and diversity in higher education. Read about the other two - the Colorado Pledge and the Test-Optional Policy.

The program emerges from our strategic plan, Building on the Block 2.0, which prioritizes increasing access to higher education. This commitment is intertwined with our efforts to become an antiracist institution and to enrich the financial and sociocultural diversity of the CC community.

Sincerely,

Jill Tiefenthaler
President