University of Washington Dream Project

Underserved high school students from low-income and diverse communities are paired with UW student mentors. Because mentors are only a few years older, they are able to connect with mentees on a peer level, and serve as models for academic achievement. At the same time, mentors learn about social issues of college access. Throughout their junior and senior years of high school, participants meet college requirements, visit the UW campus, prepare for the SAT and ACT, and attend workshops on the college application process. Participants have higher college application and acceptance rates than would be expected, particularly at UW, and the program has detailed plans to expand to other communities around the country.

Level 1 - The program has publicly available descriptive data, including number of participants, college application and acceptance rates, and demographics. However, no statistical analyses have been conducted.