Thirty high school students in the Providence Public School District just completed the inaugural semester of the Brown Collegiate Scholars Program: a four-year program that prepares PPSD students to apply to selective colleges.
The program welcomes applications from eighth graders at PPSD middle schools. Once accepted, these students remain in the program throughout high school, receiving academic support and college advising.
This summer, the inaugural cohort of 30 students spent four weeks on Brown’s campus for an introduction to the program. The goal of this summer session was “begin to build relationships with the students and create a welcoming, supportive learning environment that will set up a successful foundation for those next four years,” wrote BCSP Director Nick Figueroa.
The program continued through the fall semester, in which the students learned about navigating a college campus, incorporating time management and developing leadership skills, Figueroa added. Once these students enter their last two years of high school, the program transitions its focus to college advising.
BCSP was first announced in October 2021, The Herald previously reported. It aims to support students who will be the first in their families to go to college or have limited financial resources, University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote to The Herald last year.
For the high school class of 2022 — the most recent year for which data is available — the post-secondary enrollment rate within one year of graduating from a PPSD high school was 51.2%. For the class of 2021, the rate was nearly six percentage points lower.
BCSP is part of Brown’s agreement to contribute to the Providence community. In 2023, the University agreed to pay an average of $8.7 million a year to Providence for the next 20 years as a part of two voluntary payments agreements with three other private universities. Brown has previously been criticized for not providing enough support to the PPSD.
The University reported spending just over $270,000 on the program in fiscal year 2024.
The program currently supports just 30 students. But as the next few cohorts are accepted, BCSP leaders will be working with many students at once, Figueroa explained. At full capacity, the program could serve over 100 students, he added.
To encourage middle schoolers to apply to the program, BCSP leaders visit schools and meet with students and counselors to share information about the program, Figueroa wrote. Alongside school visits, they also host virtual information sessions for students and families, where they can speak directly with BCSP staff.
When reviewing applications, BCSP looks for “academically motivated students” willing to put in effort, Figueroa shared in a 2023 press release.
In their applications, all students in the inaugural cohort “demonstrated their desire to improve their academics and to attend a post-secondary institution once they graduate from high school,” Figueroa wrote to The Herald.
Throughout their four years in BCSP, students in the program will work closely with Brown students like Lucía Garrido-Racines ’27 and Gabriel Gonzalez ’28, who both volunteer as tutors.
Garrido-Racines shared that each tutor provides academic support in core subjects of their choice. The college mentoring process is managed by other parts of the BCSP team, while the tutors supplement the program’s advising focus.
Gonzalez highlighted the sense of community between students in the program, sharing that he has “found them to be really curious and hardworking.”
“They’re very easy to work with,” he added.
The program is still in its early stages, Figueroa emphasized. BCSP leaders plan to take a “student-centered approach” in making any adjustments to the program.
Since the program has only welcomed its first cohort of students, it is difficult to see tangible large-scale impacts on the PPSD yet, Gonzalez said.
But he hopes that as the program grows, “it can become somewhat of a support for the broader school community.”