About Us | Program Description |
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The Oliver Scholars Program selects highly motivated seventh-grade students of African American and Latino descent from New York City’s five boroughs and provides them with the support and guidance they need to help them gain admission to some of the Northeast’s best independent schools. Once accepted into these highly competitive schools, Oliver provides support to encourage and help the Scholars to succeed academically and socially and to become leaders in their schools and communities. The competition is tough. Through a painstaking search process that relies on nominations from teachers, guidance counselors or community-based organizations, potential Oliver Scholars are selected in the seventh grade from middle schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Around 60% of Oliver applicants come from low-income households. Generally, only one out of every five candidates is invited to join the Oliver Scholars Program. Each year, the number of girls in the application pool consistently exceeds the number of boys by at least 2:1. But the rewards are many. For every $1,000 invested in the Oliver Scholars Program, our Scholars tend to receive five times the value through financial aid which was awarded to them to attend independent schools to help cover average tuition fees of $30,000. In 2005-06, the total financial aid granted to Oliver Scholars was $5 million. The Oliver Program is unique in the degree to which it provides its Scholars with ongoing comprehensive and individualized support services throughout the junior high and high school years – services that bolster students’ academic, civic, emotional, and socio-cultural capacities and helps pave the path to the achievement of academic and professional goals. For more information about the Oliver Program, go to the following pages: Message from the Director |