Minds Matter of Colorado Announces Historic Partnership with University of Colorado Denver
New Program Will Guarantee College Admission, Scholarships to all Minds Matter Students
DENVER, May 5, 2017 — Minds Matter of Colorado, a leading local educational nonprofit, announced a historic partnership today with the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) that will guarantee college admission and scholarships to many of Denver’s brightest high school students from low-income families.
Under the partnership, any student that satisfies MMD’s rigorous graduation requirements will automatically receive conditional admission to CU Denver, along with a commitment from the University to assist students in applying for scholarships and other types of financial aid.
In return, MMD will make CU Denver an official “Minds Matter College Partner,” and support the University’s efforts to recruit high-performing candidates from the MMD network.
“Our new partnership with CU Denver will help extend the dream of college admission to a new generation of MMD students,” said Savinay Chandrasekhar, MMD’s Executive Director. “All of our students will now know—with certainty—that a college education is within their reach,” he added.
MMD Board Chairman Andy Seth added, “Let that sink in for a minute. The magnitude of this. That every one of our graduates, statewide, is now guaranteed their dreams. Now exhale. See how it caught your breath? Yeah, mine too.”
Each year, MMD enlists a network of over 200 volunteers to provide mentoring support to roughly 75 accomplished high school students from low-income families. Beginning in their sophomore year, students are paired with two or more adult mentors and spend time during weekly after-school sessions working on college admission, communication skills, and standardized test prep. MMD also pays for its students to attend college summer programs after their sophomore and junior years of high school.
The results speak for themselves: Since its founding in 2004, MMD has graduated 80 students, and 100% of them have been accepted to colleges with scholarships.
About Minds Matter
Minds Matter transforms the lives of accomplished high school students from low-income families by broadening their dreams and preparing them for college success. Through a highly selective and rigorous 3-year academic mentoring program, Minds Matter students accomplish the extraordinary. 100% of Minds Matter program graduates are accepted into a four-year college. More than 70% of them attend some of our nation’s more selective colleges. Powered by over 2,000 volunteers nationwide, Minds Matter Chapters are located in 14 cities across the country. The national office of Minds Matter is located in Manhattan.
For more information about Minds Matter Colorado, please contact Minds Matter Colorado’s Executive Director, Savinay Chandrasekhar, at 720-663-7297 or savinay@mindsmatterco.org, and for more information about Minds Matter National, please contact Minds Matter National’s CEO, Gadi Ben-Menachem, at 212-626-6584 or gadi@mindsmatter.org.