News in Brief

Opening the Door

Scholarships offer urban teens new access to Marquette

Thanks to a new program, more students will make this proud declaration:
“I’m going to Marquette.”

Beginning in fall 2007, the Marquette Urban Scholars Program will award 10 full-tuition renewable scholarships annually to economically disadvantaged high school students from the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. Special consideration also will be given to students who are members of the Boys and Girls Clubs.

Community leaders were ecstatic to hear it. As reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Boys and Girls Clubs Executive Director Jim Clark said: “With the kind of opportunity they’re now giving us, I think it’s going to make Marquette a much more inclusive institution and give kids right here in Milwaukee a chance to get a top-rate education. And I give Marquette a lot of credit for that. They’re stepping up and saying we want to help Milwaukee get better.”

The scholarships will be phased in. Eventually there will be 40 Urban Scholars on campus. The scholarships will be funded through a combination of university funding, federal and state tuition grants and other programs.