It was only six years ago that our office set out to make a difference for the sons and daughters of our service men and women by creating the USC Provost’s Pre-College Scholarship for Military Families. Today, I am proud to say we are making a difference in preparing these students for higher education. Including this most current group, the program has supported 146 students.
“To assist that many students from military families in such a short period of time is a testament to USC’s long-standing relationship with the military. Since 1940, the university has partnered with ROTC and offered two master’s degrees related to the military: a master’s in social work with a concentration in military service and a master of business for veterans,” said Mark Todd, vice provost for academic operations at USC. “This program is one of the myriad ways that USC recruits and educates nontraditional students who are from military families or are veterans themselves. “
This scholarship offered to a select group of high-school aged students from military families covers all expenses, including airfare, tuition, room and board, and course materials.
“In this program, USC faculty members teach four-week, three-credit courses in a single discipline with wide-ranging options — including architecture, engineering, performing arts and pre-health,” said Anthony Bailey, vice president for global and strategic initiatives and founding dean of USC Bovard College, who oversees USC Summer Programs. “Being able to live in the dorms, take a college class and experience college life while still in high school is positive preparation for college and what lies ahead.”
The teenagers come from the United States and Italy, Germany, and South Korea.
Audrey Daly applied to the program while living in Germany where her father was serving as a lieutenant commander in the Navy.
“I’m so lucky I had that opportunity because of the scholarship,” Audrey said. “In so many ways, it shifted the path of my life.”
Our goal is to create a positive experience here at USC that will inspire the children of military families to consider applying to top-tier universities that they may have otherwise considered unattainable.
Past recipients of the Provost’s Pre-College Scholarship for Military Families are attending USC, Northwestern University, Georgetown University, the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy.
I want to congratulate all of the recipients of this one-of-a-kind-scholarship and sincerely thank those faculty and staff members who have made this program possible every summer since 2014.
Funding for the scholarships is supplied by the Provost’s Office in partnership with the USC Marshall School of Business, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the USC Price School of Public Policy and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Elizabeth A. Graddy, July 16, 2019