Sunnie Rucker-Chang

Springfield, Ohio – In an effort to ensure that students from underrepresented populations have access to Wittenberg's nationally ranked educational experience, the university's Office of Admission will now offer the College Access Partnership (C.A.P.) Guarantee, which provides students up to $32,000 in aid to be applied toward the total attendance costs of Wittenberg University.

"Through this program, we want to recognize the outstanding students affiliated with Ohio College Access Network (OCAN)-sponsored programs in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Springfield, Columbus and Eastern Ohio," said Sunnie Rucker-Chang, coordinator of multicultural recruitment at Wittenberg.

Wittenberg's program, to support OCAN programs, will initially offer a total of eight awards to students who demonstrate academic excellence, active engagement in their community, and who embody the values and mission of Wittenberg University. Students must be nominated by their respective program director/president, and distribution of the awards will occur as follows: two students from Cleveland Scholarship Programs; two students from the Cincinnati Scholarship Foundation; two students from I Know I Can in Columbus; one student from Clark County Gear Up in Springfield; and one student from the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education in eastern Ohio.

Kelliea Johnson (left), class of 2009, speaks with fellow Wittenberg students outside the university's historic Recitation Hall.

The award is renewable for a total of four years contingent upon enrollment in and completion of a Wittenberg degree-seeking program. Awardees are also required to meet regularly with a member of the First-Year Experience team to ensure continued scholastic and social good standing.

"Without the aid of these college access programs, college would never be attainable for many of these students," Rucker-Chang said. "We are simply thrilled to be able to offer additional assistance, which not only recognizes the efforts of OCAN and its programs throughout the state, but also helps deserving students whose lives will forever be changed as a result of a Wittenberg education."

Unique in its efforts to help underprivileged students and their families navigate through the college process from application to matriculation, OCAN currently oversees more than 35 College Access Programs spanning 88 counties in the state. Ohio Access Programs target students with academic promise who typically lack access to the college application process because of their socioeconomic status. Although the targeted beneficiaries of the program differ by the respective missions of the various organizations, the ultimate goal of each program remains focused on providing support, financially, socially, and educationally, to students from underrepresented populations.

For more information on the WittC.A.P. Guarantee program, contact Rucker-Chang via e-mail.

Written By: Karen Gerboth
Photos By: Robert Gantt

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