P.E.O.P.L.E. Program
By Ivon Palacios
Feb 20, 2008 at 1:59 pm

The University of Wisconsin - Madison's School of Education administers a state-wide pre-college enrichment program known as the PEOPLE Program. PEOPLE stands for Pre-college Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence. Their mission: To help students successfully make transactions from middle school to high school and then to college. Their main focus is to identify pre-college students of color and/or low income households and help them graduate as focused young adults who are motivated and academically prepared to go to college. This process of identification starts as early as second grade in elementary school. There are two times a qualifying student can apply, the first being toward the end of sixth grade and the second at the start of freshman year in high school. Madison students can apply either time. Students from other parts of the state of Wisconsin can only apply as high school freshmen.

The PEOPLE Program is split into three branches. The Middle School, High School, and Bridge-to-College Programs. The Middle School Program consists of tutoring after school Monday through Thursday at an on campus site during the school year. During the summer there are workshops they must attend on campus for three weeks. The High School Program also consists of tutoring after school Monday - Thursday at each high school. For rising tenth and eleven grade students there is a three week residential program during the summer. Students stay in college dorms and go to enrichment classes in the mornings, then to a fine art of their choosing in the evenings. For rising twelve graders the residential program is five weeks long and an internship must be completed. At the successful completion of the internship students receive $1000 as a bonus. Rising college freshmen must complete the Bridge-to-College program. Upon graduation from high school, each PEOPLE student who is admitted to UW-Madison, and completes the Bridge-to-College program, is eligible for a tuition scholarship for up to five years. Completion of the PEOPLE program does not however, guarantee acceptance to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The PEOPLE Program first started in 1999 with sixty-six ninth graders from Milwaukee Public High Schools. Today approximately 1200 students participate. The PEOPLE program has increased the enrollment and graduation rates of students from diverse backgrounds at the UW-Madison, improving campus diversity.