Opportunity and Achievement
Scholars Program
The CDI Scholars Program provides comprehensive college counseling, targeted tutoring, test preparation, study skills, leadership training, and ongoing support, beginning in 10th grade and continuing through successful college graduation.
Services include:
Weekly standardized test preparation
College application assistance
Participation in cultural and service events
Curriculum planning
Meetings with college representatives
Targeted visits to college campuses
Testing and college application fee support
Creation of tailored college lists developed with students/families
Writing workshops and assistance with college essays
Assistance applying for and negotiating financial aid
Ongoing support and leadership training throughout college
Alumni networking and counseling
Developing and strengthening executive functioning skills
Why Our Work Matters
According to the Pell Institute, only 16% of first-generation-to-college students from low-income households graduate from college within six years.
For CDI Scholars in this same demographic, 90% graduate from college.
These results come from a strategy that has been cultivated over 20 years and which rest on the principle that potential cannot turn into opportunity without support, and without support, opportunity cannot turn into success.
Since 2005, CDI has worked to reduce the achievement and opportunity gap for low-income, first-generation-to-college students with a series of programs designed to help them maximize their potential and ensure they are equipped with the academic, financial, and social-emotional tools necessary to successfully graduate from college and enter prepared into the world of work.
Become a CDI Scholar
To learn more about eligibility requirements and the application to become a CDI Scholar, click the button below.