Five years ago the Rutger Futures Scholars program was established. Under the program a large group of students from inner-city schools were accepted into a program to better prepare them for the rigors of higher education. The students were promised if they stuck with the program for five years and successfully met the university’s admissions standards, they would receive full tuition scholarships at Rutgers University.
The program has met with a great deal of success. Of the 183 students who began in the program five years ago, 163 will enter college this fall. Of the 163 college-bound students, 98 will be attending Rutgers University on full scholarships. Nineteen other students received scholarships to other four-year universities. Another 46 students completed the program but did not meet the university’s admission standards, but will attend community colleges. If they successfully complete their two-year programs and transfer to Rutgers, these students will receive full tuition scholarships.
Each year a new cohort of 200 eighth-grade students are selected for the Rutgers Futures Scholars program. The university states that the program costs about $1.6 million to run each year.
