Center for Multicultural Equity and Access (CMEA)
The Community Scholars Program provides opportunities for exceptional students who broaden and enrich the Georgetown community. Community Scholars are carefully selected on the basis of high academic achievement, impressive co-curricular accomplishments, and a commitment to success in the face of adversity. Scholars typically come from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and are often first-generation college students.
The Community Scholars Experience begins with a four-week summer residential component built around Humanities and Writing 009, an intensive critical-reading and writing course—taught for credit by Georgetown faculty with graduate-student writing tutors—that provides an interdisciplinary foundation for the University’s liberal arts curriculum. A second, non-credit, summer enrichment seminar helps prepare students for core courses such as Accounting, Economics, Philosophy or Theology, depending on their school and intended major. Scholars will have the opportunity for priority fall registration, including guaranteed seats in classes led by some of the University’s best teachers.
Scholars live in a residence hall along with Resident Advisors who provide an extended orientation to life at Georgetown; students also meet school and college deans, financial aid counselors and other service providers. The program seeks to foster the kind of comprehensive college skills that would be helpful for any first-year student. All essential summer expenses including tuition, room, board and books, are covered by the program. The program also arranges and pays for travel for Scholars who live beyond a 300-mile radius of Washington, DC.
Scholars receive a $1,500 scholarship in addition to their need-based financial-aid award to compensate for lost summer wages. The scholarship will continue each year for four years as long as students remain active participants in the program and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5.
In the fall, Scholars continue with Humanities and Writing 009 (for a total of six credits) and take a reduced load of four courses, one of which will include weekly “Fourth Hour” study groups led by facilitators recommended by course professors. In addition, participants receive one three-credit summer-school scholarship that can be used at any time during your undergraduate career.
The Community Scholars Experience continues in later years with a variety of activities including one-on-one meetings with the Coordinator of the Program; workshops on choosing a major, studying abroad, finding internships, applying to graduate school, and choosing a career; special faculty seminars; cultural and social outings; and community service opportunities.
Evolving for more than thirty years to meet the shifting challenges of higher education, the Community Scholars Program continues to represent the Soul of Georgetown.