Nonprofit is currently recruiting students for the first class of its “College Scholars.”

Newark Patch |By Eric Kiefer (Patch Staff) | April 21, 2015

New Jersey SEEDS, a Newark-based non-profit, is seeking local students to participate in its College Scholars Program, a 17-month academic immersion experience designed to prepare and place top-performing, low-income students from comprehensive high schools into highly selective colleges with sufficient financial aid.

According to a release, SEEDS builds upon its current academic programs – Scholars, Young Scholars and College Preparatory – to offer the next generation of its students an academic leap forward.

SEEDS is currently recruiting students for the first class of its College Scholars. Interested students must be in the top 10 percent of their high school class and must be nominated by their guidance counselors. Select students will then be invited to test with SEEDS and complete the admissions process.

The first College Scholars classes will begin in February 2016.

Ninety-eight percent of CPP graduates enrolled in college and today, 94 percent of them are sophomores, juniors and seniors on track to graduate, with the first bachelor’s degrees to be conferred this spring, stated the release.

College Scholars is a 17-month program that consists of academic classes each Saturday during the spring of students’ eleventh-grade year, and throughout twelfth grade. In addition, during the summer before their senior year in high school, students will participate in a three-week residency on a college campus. Participants will be exposed to academics including language arts, mathematics, writing, science and test preparation, in addition to workshops designed to develop college survival skills.

With the assistance of SEEDS, students will undertake a comprehensive college search, complete with campus tours, visits from college representatives, counseling, mentoring and fly-in weekend applications. At the same time, SEEDS will work with each participant to complete college applications, develop compelling essays and secure the maximum available financial aid.