The best and brightest of Denver's traditionally under-represented students will soon be enrolling at a new high-tech high school, and qualified graduates will be guaranteed admission to the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The Denver School of Science and Technology, which will enroll its first ninth grade class in September 2004, has partnered with both the CU-Boulder Office of Admissions and the university's Pre-Collegiate Development Program to help increase the number of promising first-generation college students, women and minorities to attend college.
"We're very pleased to have an agreement that encourages good students from the Denver School of Science and Technology to come to CU-Boulder," said Director of Admissions Barbara Schneider. "The arrangement is very similar to the already existing guaranteed admission policy we have for in-state applicants."
Schneider credited outgoing CU Regent Norwood Robb for helping establish the partnership between DSST and CU-Boulder.
DSST students who meet CU-Boulder's academic admissions criteria and have a grade-point average of 3.25 or better will be automatically admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Architecture and Planning. The university's College of Engineering and Applied Science and Leeds School of Business also will require specific minimum math scores on the SAT or ACT exam for guaranteed admission. College of Music applicants must also pass a required audition.
In addition, all candidates must maintain consistent or improving grades throughout their senior year of high school and meet all application deadlines.
DSST has set an admissions floor of 40 percent school-lunch-program eligible students and 45 percent girls. A partnership with CU-Boulder's Pre-Collegiate Development Program, which seeks to help educationally and economically disadvantaged students in Colorado high schools and middle schools, should prove mutually beneficial.
"We are thrilled to partner with DSST," said PCDP Director Johanna B. Maes. "Their highly motivated students, who are excited to explore the world of science and technology, will only add to our already outstanding PCDP student population."
PCDP applicants to CU-Boulder will be eligible for scholarships, including one $10,000 scholarship distributed over four years from the CU Parents Association and an $8,000 scholarship over four years from Wells Fargo Bank. Financial aid will also be available to DSST applicants who are not part of the PCDP program.
"Every effort will be made to award DSST students as much financial aid as possible based on their family income and the student's participation in pre-college programs while in high school," said CU-Boulder Provost Philip Distefano.
Beginning in the 2003-04 academic year, CU's Pre-Collegiate middle school program staff will promote the new DSST high school to eighth graders at area schools. After classes at DSST begin, high school administrators there will help identify student candidates for participation in the PCDP program. Potential first-generation college-bound students with a 2.5 or higher grade-point average, including those from groups that are traditionally under-represented in higher education, will be targeted for enrollment in PCDP.
For more information about CU-Boulder admissions, visit . To learn more about the Pre-Collegiate Development Program, visit .