
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, 505-277-5915, lmellas@unm.edu
June 13, 2007
Daniels Fund Awards Grant to Expand UNM College Readiness Program
The Daniels Fund College Readiness Program at the University of New Mexico (UNM) has been awarded a $34,785 grant to expand its intensive summer residential preparatory program into a year-round college prep program for 50 high school seniors, said Vice President for Student Affairs Eliseo “Cheo” Torres.
The award continues the successful three-year partnership between the Daniels Fund and UNM’s College Prep Programs (CPP) within College Enrichment & Outreach Programs (CEOP) in the Division of Student Affairs. Formerly, Daniels funding covered only the week-long summer residential camp. The additional funding will allow CPP to work with students through graduation from high school, and to meet with them on a monthly basis.
CEOP has been partnering with the Daniels Fund Scholarships since the 2004-2005 academic year and currently operates a Daniels Fund summer college prep program and scholarship program. The new grant from Daniels Fund will enable the program to provide high school students with the necessary tools to access and enter a post-secondary institution and compete for scholarships such as the Daniels Fund Scholarship, said Mandie Pritchard, student program specialist, CEOP. This year’s Daniels Fund College Readiness Program will be an intensive one-year program that will promote high school graduation and college enrollment for 50 high school seniors.
The 2007-2008 Daniels Fund College Readiness Program begins with a parent/student orientation during the spring semester of a student’s junior year in high school, extending into the summer for a six-day residential program, and concluding with a series of seminars during the student’s senior year of high school. The seminars are designed to help promising young adults with demonstrated financial need to prepare for college, explore college possibilities, and understand the college application process. Orientation, the summer residential program, and seminars are held on the UNM main campus.
The program works well to promote retention, Torres said. “Of the 33 participants in the 2004-2005 Daniels Fund Summer College Readiness Program, 79 percent are enrolled in college,” he said. “Of the 2005-2006 cohort of 32 participants, only two are not currently enrolled in college.”
With the expansion of the summer program into a year-long program, it is anticipated that retention rates for students in the program will be even better, Torres said.
For more information, please contact Mandie Pritchard, Director of Pre-College Programs, at pritchm@unm.edu, or call her at 505-277-3096.
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