News 2018: UMass Dartmouth to provide higher education experience for all Fall River 7th graders

College Positive Tours bring college within reach for SouthCoast students

The Leduc Center for Civic Engagement is happy to announce dates for the 2018 College Positive Tours. These tours, which are sponsored by BayCoast Bank, give every single seventh grader from Fall River an introduction to the college experience.

The dates are as follows:

• October 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, and 30
• November 1, 8, 13, 15, 20, 27, and 29
• December 4 and 6

The program was started to encourage students to graduate high school and take full advantage of the benefits that a college degree has to offer. In collaboration with local high schools, students are brought to campus for a student-oriented tour that provides them with a preview of the life of college students, including visits to the dormitories, the Resident Dining Hall, the Campus Center, and classrooms.

Since its inception, over 6,000 students have attended these tours and learned about the possibility of a college education from the student tour guides. The members of the UMass Dartmouth College Positive Corps lead these tours and share their own stories about their paths to college helping to build a peer-to-peer connection with the high school students.

After the 2017 tours, the Leduc Center surveyed 611 student attendees about their experience. When asked if their interest in college increased because of the tour, 88.8% responded affirmatively. Before the tour, 78.3% planned to attend college, but after their experience at UMass Dartmouth, 88.7% planned to attend.

In the spring, the same program will be operated with New Bedford seventh graders.