SMU teams up with KIPP charter schools to recruit students from diverse backgrounds, poor families
Southern Methodist University is partnering with KIPP, a charter school company, to attract greater diversity to the university and help KIPP students succeed in college.
By MELISSA REPKO
Staff Writer
Southern Methodist University is partnering with KIPP, a charter school company, to attract greater diversity to the university and help KIPP students succeed in college.
SMU will provide a free summer program for KIPP high school students each year and recruit from its 18 high schools in cities including Austin, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
KIPP has one school in Dallas and plans to open nine more in the area by 2022. Truth Academy, a KIPP middle school, is in East Oak Cliff. Dallas’ first KIPP elementary school opens in the Red Bird area in August.
KIPP, which stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, works to close the college graduation gap between students from rich and poor families. The schools are usually in ZIP codes with large minority populations and poorly performing public schools.
As part of the partnership with KIPP, SMU has agreed to:
- Enroll five to seven qualified KIPP graduates each school year.
- Waive the $60 application fee for KIPP students (something SMU does for all applicants in financial need).
- Support KIPP students who attend SMU through Mustang Bridge, an academic and advising program that transitions students into college life.
- Offer a free summer program for 10 KIPP high school students, who will attend classes for college credit and live on campus for about four weeks.
- Designate KIPP schools as teaching sites for SMU student teachers and work-study jobs for student tutors.
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