We Develop Tomorrow’s Leaders.

Posse is one of the most comprehensive and renowned college access and youth leadership development programs in the United States. In fact, President Barack Obama said in an interview in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “One of this year’s MacArthur awardees—the ‘genius’ awards—is an innovator named Deborah Bial. She proposed a model to identify promising students from…urban backgrounds using an alternative set of qualities as predictors of success in college. …The students that are selected form a ‘Posse’ and are provided with extra supports, and end up graduating from selective colleges with a very high success rate.”

College Access and Leadership Development

Founded in 1989, Posse identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Posse extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, multicultural teams—Posses—of 10 students. Posse partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships.

Posse’s 2011 Annual Report

Download Posse’s 2011 Annual Report

A worthwhile investment

For over 20 years, Posse partner colleges and universities have welcomed Posse Scholars onto their campuses. They have awarded an incredible $577 million in leadership scholarships to these young people and have seen their success not only as leaders on campus, but in these students’ 90 percent persistance and graduation rate. Posse’s partners are investing time, energy and resources in the promotion of equity in education and social justice. They believe in the intelligence, talent and dreams of young people who might not always show up on their radar screens, and are giving them a chance to excel.

From the President + Founder and Chair

Dear Friends,
Posse’s high school-through-college programming is among the most comprehensive of its kind in the United States. For more than two decades, Posse has helped thousands of talented students reach their highest potential. They are the most diverse group of young people one could imagine. Read More

Where is Posse?

Posse has sites in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York and Washington, D.C. Posse opened its ninth site in Houston in 2012.

Latest News

647 New Scholars Win $90 Million in Scholarships

Spring 2013

This winter, a record number of young leaders from across the country were welcomed to The Posse Foundation, including the inaugural Veterans Posse and the first Posses from Houston.

Vassar College Selects Inaugural Veterans Posse

Spring 2013

In January, at an awards ceremony in New York City hosted by Moody’s Corporation, The Posse Foundation and Vassar College recognized 11 veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces as members of the first Veterans Posse.

Middlebury Alumna Develops National Entrepreneurship Program in Uganda

Spring 2013

Angelica Towne graduated from Middlebury College five years ago determined to use her education to empower youth in developing countries around the world. Today, the international studies major is the co-founder and country director of Educate!, a national youth leadership development organization that works with thousands of students and young entrepreneurs in Uganda.

Kalamazoo Offers Scholars Small Campus, Global Education

Spring 2013

Bringing diversity to higher education has been a career-long commitment for Eric Staab, the dean of admission and financial aid at Michigan’s Kalamazoo College.