Posse identifies cohorts ("posses") of student leaders in 20+ recruiting cities and sends them as a group to one of its 60 partner colleges/universities (including Cornell, Vanderbilt, UNC School of the Arts, and Bucknell) on a full-tuition leadership scholarship, with a structured pre-collegiate and in-college mentoring program. Critically, students cannot apply directly: they must be nominated by a high school or community-based organization registered with Posse, typically as early as second-semester junior year, with the formal process running in the fall of senior year. The foundation states the scholarship is neither minority- nor need-based; selection is leadership-based through a Dynamic Assessment Process rather than a traditional essay or letters of recommendation submitted by the student. Students interested should ask their high school counselor whether their school partners with a local Posse office.
Eligibility
DemographicsNomination-only: students cannot self-apply and must be nominated by a Posse-registered high school or community-based organization in one of Posse's 20+ partner cities; not race-restricted, selection is leadership-based via group assessment rather than individual essays or recommendation letters.
Applying
Full tuition scholarship (dollar value varies by partner institution's cost of attendance).