Bryn Mawr College has been a leader among high-ranking liberal arts colleges in enrolling students from low-income families. As part of the college’s effort to increase diversity, in 2000 Bryn Mawr partnered with the Posse Foundation. The foundation identifies nontraditional students with exceptional academic and leadership potential, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, and groups them into small support groups. Partner colleges agree to admit the posses as a group. Many of these students are minorities and many come from low-income families.
Each year, Bryn Mawr offered full-tuition scholarships to a posse of 10 to 12 students from the Boston public schools.
Now Bryn Mawr will sponsor a second posse of students. And this new group will be made up exclusively of women who plan on pursuing careers in STEM fields. The women will come from public schools in Boston. The traditional posse of students to come to Bryn Mawr will now be made up of students from the Houston public schools. The change will take effect for students entering Bryn Mawr in the fall of 2013.