Grinnell College Is First Partner with Washington, D.C. Posse

Newswise — Grinnell College officially announced that it has joined with the Posse Foundation as the first partner school for Posse's just launched Washington, D.C. site. The announcement was made Thursday, May 20, in Washington, D.C.

Grinnell College, a top liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, is also the first partner school for Posse's Los Angeles site. Grinnell is one of just three partner schools to accept more than one Posse per year and is the first partner school to lead from the start in two Posse cities.

“Posse is a brilliant program,” said Russell K. Osgood, president of Grinnell College. “Posse students have the kinds of qualities Grinnell seeks in all of our students. They have the personality and aspirations to capitalize on the opportunity of a Grinnell College full-tuition, merit scholarship, and they have the benefit of Posse's track record of better than 90 percent graduation rate.”

The concept of a Posse works for both students and college campuses, and is rooted in the belief that a small, diverse group of talented students—a Posse—carefully selected and trained, can serve as a catalyst for increased individual and community development.

“As the United States becomes an increasingly multicultural society, Posse believes that leaders in this new century should reflect the country’s rich demographic mix,” said Deborah Bial, founder and president of the Posse Foundation. “The key to a promising future for our nation rests on the ability of strong leaders from diverse backgrounds to develop consensus solutions to complex social problems. One of the primary aims of the Posse Program is to train these leaders of tomorrow.”

Posse’s Washington, DC site is supported by a three-year, $1 million grant from the Sallie Mae Fund.

Beginning in the Fall, Posse scholars will be identified through Posse’s Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP) and then participate in an eight-month training program that focuses on academic skill building, cross cultural communication, leadership development and teambuilding. Once on campus, the students act as a support team for each other and as a model of integrated diversity for the university community. Posse Scholars represent people from every class, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Quick facts:

-- Grinnell College is ranked among the very best of national liberal arts colleges.
-- Grinnell's scholarship commitment is more than $1.2 million to each Posse of ten scholars (the value of each four-year merit scholarship is roughly $115,000; these students would also be eligible for need-based financial aid for room, board, and other fees).
-- Over five years, Grinnell’s scholarship commitments to DC Posses will exceed $5.8 million.
-- Last year, 232 Posse Scholars were selected from among more than 4,500 students who were nominated.
-- Translated into scholarships, the Posse Foundation leveraged more than $23.2 million in merit scholarships from its 17 partner schools last year alone. Posse Scholars have been awarded more than $85 million in scholarships from Posse partner colleges and universities.
-- Posse’s other 19 university partners are all rated in the top ten percent of universities in the nation and include: Babson College, Bowdoin College, Brandeis University, Bryn Mawr College, Carleton College, Clarement McKenna College, Colby College, Denison University, DePauw University, Dickinson College, Grinnell College, Hamilton College, Lafayette College, Middlebury College, Trinity College, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Vanderbilt University, and Wheaton College.

Grinnell College: Founded in 1846, Grinnell College enrolls about1,400 undergraduate students from every state and 55 other countries. The college's primary mission is to provide students with a broad, deep, and life-enhancing education that includes professional success, but also personal growth and social responsibility. Grinnell College offers an exceptional, rigorous, comprehensive, and opportunity-rich educational experience, which has, at its heart, one-on-one interactions between students, faculty, alumni, and staff. Grinnell College consistently ranks among the top nationally selective liberal arts colleges in the United States and also consistently ranks in the top ten among all colleges and universities in endowment resources per student and has ranked in the top twenty in alumni gifts per student. http://www.grinnell.edu

The Posse Foundation: Founded in 1989, the Posse Foundation identifies urban public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by the traditional college-selection process. Working with its partner universities, the Posse Foundation extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal achievement and academic excellence by awarding them four-year scholarships and placing them in supportive, multi-cultural, teams (“Posses”) of ten students. Over 90% of Posse Scholars are currently in college or have graduated. http://www.possefoundation.org

The Sallie Mae Fund a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission—to increase access to a postsecondary education for America's children—by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, preparing families for their investment, and bridging the gap when no one else can. For more information visit http://www.salliemaefund.org