The following Student Engagement and Scholarship Programs (SESP) support college attainment. Through intentional programming, personalized advising and scholarship support, the SESP collectively prioritize student success, focusing on academic excellence, leadership, community building, and service. SESP prepare students to enact the Wisconsin Idea, growing as ethical and responsible leaders who can thrive in an interconnected world
Mercile J. Lee Scholars
The Mercile J. Lee Scholars Program (MJLSP) serves over 500 high-achieving undergraduate students. With a philosophy of “Excellence in Scholarship, Leadership and Service”, the program is at the forefront of providing intensive and consistent levels of direct support to talented students who as a cohort are admitted to UW–Madison. Since its creation in the early 1980s (originally named Chancellor’s and Power-Knapp scholarship), the MJLSP has established itself as the premier scholarship program on campus. Scholars benefit from individualized advising, a supportive peer network, leadership development opportunities, mentorship, alumni connections, and more. In addition to the structured support provided by the programs, scholars also receive a full tuition financial award
OMAI / First Wave
The Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives provides culturally relevant and transformative arts programming to promote positive social dialogue and to give cultural art forms a legitimate academic forum. By harnessing the broad cultural influence of spoken word, hip hop, and emerging as well as traditional art forms, OMAI’s events and programming create learning environments that directly enhance UW–Madison’s campus climate, improving retention and graduation, and preparing future leaders to reinvest in their communities. One of OMAI’s most prominent initiatives is the First Wave (FW) Hip Hop and Urban Arts Scholarship Program. FW is a cutting-edge multicultural artistic program that offers full tuition scholarships for urban arts, spoken word and hip-hop culture at UW-Madison. FW brings young artists and leaders from across the United States and beyond to enroll as students, to live, study, and to create a close-knit and dynamic campus community of student activists.
PEOPLE
The Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) prepares Wisconsin students to succeed in college with an emphasis on enrollment at UW Madison. The program recruits students at the precollege level in Madison (8th grade) and Milwaukee School districts (9th grade). PEOPLE provides a support infrastructure dedicated to achieving the goals of college attainment and degree completion. PEOPLE consists of two programs: one specific to precollege students and one specific to college scholars at UW–Madison. PEOPLE provides students enrolled and their network (families, teachers and counselors) with sustained individual attention critical for being academically, psychologically and culturally prepared to succeed in a rigorous college environment. Students who are admitted/enrolled at UW–Madison are eligible for a four-year tuition scholarship. PEOPLE currently serves over 1,100 students (middle school to college) in the state of Wisconsin.
Posse
Posse identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential. Posse extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive teams — Posses — of 10 students. Posse partners with colleges and universities to award these students four-year, full-tuition merit scholarships. Once selected for admission to UW-Madison, Posse Scholars enroll in a 32-week training program during their senior high school year. They arrive on campus academically prepared and motivated to foster positive social change. UW-Madison as an institution became a Posse Foundation partner in 2002 becoming the first public research institution to launch a Posse program. Today, over 60 highly selective institutions across the nation have partnered with the Posse Foundation. Since 2002, more than 600 Posse Scholars have graduated from UW–Madison. UW–Madison Posse partner cities include L.A., New York, Chicago, and D.C.