The 2009 Future Cougars of Color Luncheon will be held 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in Seattle, as part of WSU’s annual Seattle Week celebration.
The luncheon is a major fund-raising event for the Future Cougars of Color Scholarship and Visitation program, which hleps recruit high-achieving high school seniors of color throughout Washington state.
WSU believes that an educated, diverse workforce is necessary for the success of business in the 21st century and for the nations economic success. One-hundred percent of all funds raised at the luncheon will benefit the Future Cougars of Color Program.
The FCOC program is designed to bring students to the WSU Pullman campus for a weekend visit each spring, where they are introduced to the academic environment and engaged in student life. FCOC participants who enroll at WSU also are eligible for a four-year scholarship.
Since the program began in spring 2004, 410 students of color, with an average GPA of 3.6, participated in the FCOC visitation program. Of this group, more than 74 percent have confirmed their enrollment at WSU. In addition, participants have advanced through the WSU system with a 98 percent retention rate (from freshman through junior year).
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| See video on FCOC |
The overall retention rate for minorities at WSU, from freshman through junior year, is currently 69.5 percent. The enrollment and retention rates from this program far surpass our average yield rates for students of color, demonstrating in the first three years that the program is fulfilling one of its principal purposes-to give students of color the confidence and the financial support to select Washington State University from among the other offers they may have.
During the past 10 years, WSU’s enrollment of students of color has nearly doubled, yet the percentage of ethnic minorities at WSU still lags behind the diverse makeup of the state and national population. Scholarships will help to close the gap by giving more individuals from underrepresented groups the financial means and incentive to pursue a higher education.
Currently, 3 percent of all scholarship support at WSU is directed to this goal.
Click on the following link for more information on the FCOC luncheon or program.
