Milwaukee County UW Cooperative Extension awarded $79,398 for Pilot Pre-College Institute with UW Colleges Two-Year Institutions | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Eloisa Gómez, Director, Milwaukee County Cooperative Extension
August 19, 2013
Milwaukee County UW Cooperative Extension has been awarded $79,398 from the UW-Extension Program Innovation Fund to collaborate with four UW Colleges and UW Help on a pilot Pre-College Institute for Milwaukee Middle and High School 4-H youth.
UW College partners and Milwaukee County UW Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development educators and County Director, Eloisa Gómez, initiated a UW Extension Pre-College Institute that will bring four UW Colleges and other UW System resources under one roof in Milwaukee to enhance and supply services to middle and high school youth who are engaged in youth development programs from the Milwaukee office.  The Institute will connect UW Richland, Rock, Washington and Waukesha Colleges to approximately 250 middle and high school students, many of whom come from traditionally underserved populations and are from Milwaukee’s central city north and south sides.
The Pre-College Institute is designed to connect youth to UW Colleges and other UW resources to introduce the youth and their parents to the college environment on several layers including academics, campus life, and financial considerations that all have a significant impact on a family to support a youth’s decision to attend UW post-secondary institutions.
According to Greg Hutchins, Associate Vice Chancellor for University of Wisconsin-Extension,“UW-Extension has been bringing educational programs into Milwaukee neighborhoods for decades, and now we’re thrilled to provide this new level of pre-college experience for Milwaukee youth.  The UW Colleges are very committed to helping students gain admission and achieve success in college, and with the addition of UW Help to this effort, students will find that access to all of the UW’s universities will become more obtainable.  This pre-college institute is going to provide a pathway from Milwaukee neighborhoods to UW Colleges and Universities and beyond.”
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The Pre-College Institute has the capacity to become an innovative model to introduce youth in the Milwaukee County 4-H Youth Development programs to UW Colleges with a two-fold goal:  support youth academically throughout middle and high school through pertinent and existing services;  The Milwaukee office offers UWC a greater likelihood to maintain connections to these youth and their families throughout middle and high school so that UW Colleges or other UW post-secondary institutions are more seriously considered upon their graduation, thereby increasing the number of students entering the institutions.
For more information contact Eloisa Gómez, Director, Milwaukee County Cooperative Extension at 414-256-4600 or Eloisa.gomez@ces.uwex.edu.