National-Louis University is accepting applications through July 2 for the Elizabeth Harrison Fellowship Program

An educational initiative supporting underserved students in which individuals chosen as Harrison Fellows can receive approximately $50,000 each over four years

(CHICAGO – June 4, 2010) This fall, more than 60 students from underserved communities will have the opportunity to attend National-Louis University’s downtown Chicago campus on Michigan Avenue—across from the Art Institute of Chicago—by becoming members of the founding class of NLU Elizabeth Harrison Fellows. Each Harrison Fellow can receive approximately $50,000 over four years. NLU is accepting applications through July 2, 2010, for the program. The Harrison Fellows program honors the life, work and mission of NLU’s founder, Elizabeth Harrison, who championed early childhood education in Chicago in the 19th century. NLU has reached out to its partner community organizations and high schools and invited them to sponsor worthy students, not only to receive this fellowship, but also to become leaders in their communities either as math or science teachers or as business entrepreneurs.

NLU is investing in developing the next generation of community leaders by providing financial support to meet the tuition needs of underserved students, many of whom are of color and are the first members of their families to attend college. Harrison Fellows will pursue either a uniquely designed B.A. in Elementary Education for urban teachers (including type 03 certification and endorsement in math or science), or a B.S. in Management degree. The Harrison Fellowship is designed to provide access to these high-demand fields for students who otherwise could not afford college, while also exposing them to a co-curricular program designed to ensure academic success, degree completion and professional acculturation.

Applications for fall 2010 admission are being accepted from qualified daytime students of any age with a high school diploma or G.E.D. and no previous college experience. A mid-summer or late-summer orientation for those accepted as Harrison Fellows will be offered to assist with the transition into university life.

“This fellowship is important because it offers students … a chance to have access to higher education, whereas otherwise many of them would not have had the opportunity,” says Traci Dennard, one of the NLU staff members overseeing students’ entrance into the program.

For students or parents with questions, please contact Harrison Fellows advisor Jason Almodovar by phone at 312.261.3043 or by email at jason.almodovar@nl.edu, or visit http://www.nl.edu/harrisonfellows.

If you are part of a community organization that would be interested in recommending prospective fellows, please contact Traci Dennard by phone at 312.261.3845 or by email at traci.dennard@nl.edu.

About National-Louis University
National-Louis University began as a teacher of teachers; teaching remains not just the university’s strength, but its calling. In 1886, founder Elizabeth Harrison took the idea of early childhood education and built around it one of the first four-year colleges for teachers. Today, in the process of educating students, faculty in the National College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Management and Business continue to act on some of the most urgent problems of our time and our society. They are innovators, animated by an intense dedication to their students and a commitment to building more effective and more caring schools, communities and societies.

#

Contact:
Traci Dennard
312.261.3845
traci.dennard@nl.edu