CONWAY, Ark. (April 9, 2015) – KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) announced yesterday that it will partner with Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, in an effort to increase college completion rates for underserved KIPP students in the Delta and nationwide.
With this partnership, Hendrix plans to recruit and enroll between four and six qualified KIPP alumni for the 2015-2016 school year and each year thereafter. Hendrix will address the full financial need of KIPP alumni at the school and develop a peer mentorship program to provide further peer support to KIPP students and
other first generation college students. Additionally, Hendrix will provide KIPP Delta high school juniors and seniors with college exposure opportunities to experience college through field trips to tour the campus and visit with professors.
“We are excited and honored to continue the culture of success that KIPP Delta has created for students in the Arkansas Delta,” said Hendrix College President Bill Tsutsui. “Not only does this new partnership continue our heritage of providing Arkansas students with an exceptional liberal arts education, it affirms our
commitment to and the importance of a diverse campus community. This is an exciting opportunity for Hendrix and KIPP Delta students, and we are so grateful to the KIPP leaders for their confidence and trust in Hendrix.”
The new partnership continues the spirit of other recent Hendrix initiatives for Arkansas students. In December, the college announced the
Hendrix Arkansas Advantage financial assistance program, which meets all demonstrated financial need for qualified Arkansas high school students enrolling at Hendrix in fall 2015. This spring, Hendrix signed an
agreement with the Arkansas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) to provide scholarships to qualified Latino and Latina students.
“We are thrilled to have a partnership with Hendrix College,” said Scott Shirey, Executive Director of KIPP Delta Public Schools. “The partnership shows a real commitment from President Tsutsui and Hendrix to ensure that an economically and geographically diverse set of students has access to some of the best
education in the state. We are grateful that we will be able to work hand in hand with them to ensure our students make it not only to college, but through college.”
Founded in 2002, KIPP Delta serves nearly 1,400 students across five schools in Helena and Blytheville, Arkansas. KIPP Delta will open a sixth public charter school in Forest City in the summer of 2015. KIPP schools have an extended school day and year, which allows more time for learning and student enrichment. Ninety-two
percent of KIPP Delta’s students are African American, and more than 90 percent qualify for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. In 2014, KIPP Delta Collegiate High School was named the #2 high school in the state of Arkansas by US News & World Report.
KIPP Delta is part of a national network of 162 KIPP public charter schools. A
report released by independent research firm Mathematica showed that KIPP middle schools nationwide are producing positive, significant and substantial achievement gains for students in all grades and four subjects—math, reading, science, and social studies. Mathematica
researchers found that KIPP achieved these academic gains with students that entered middle school with lower achievement scores than their peers in neighboring district schools. KIPP’s national college completion rate is above the national average for all students and four times the rate for students from
low-income families nationwide.
Hendrix joins a growing list of KIPP college partners, including Brown University, Duke University, Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania and Spelman College. A complete list of KIPP’s college partners can be found at
KIPP.org.
About KIPP
KIPP – the
Knowledge Is Power Program – is a national network of open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life. KIPP was founded in Houston in 1994 and has grown to 162 schools serving
more than 59,000 students and 6,000 alumni. More than 95 percent of students enrolled in KIPP schools are African American or Latino, and 88 percent qualify for the federal free and reduced-price meals program.
About Hendrix College
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. This year, Hendrix was named the country’s #1 “Up and Coming” liberal arts college and #8 in the nation for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the 2015 Fiske Guide
to Colleges, Forbes magazine's list of America's Top Colleges, the 2014 Princeton Review’s The
Best 378 Colleges, and the latest edition of Colleges That Change
Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.