College Access and Success

Since coming to the University of Washington a decade ago, Anne Browning (PhD ‘14) has helped transform how the institution supports undergraduates and their student experience.

Students of color in America are 20 times less likely to be identified as gifted and talented than their classmates.

Too many students aren’t getting an opportunity to reveal their strengths says Nancy Hertzog, a University of Washington College of Education professor, and as director of the UW Robinson Center for Young Scholars she’s working to change the status quo.

At meetings with Native American community leaders, educators in the University of Washington’s College of Education repeatedly heard the same question — what can be done to improve educational outcomes among Native learners?

A desire to foster resiliency among young people, advocate for social justice and build inclusive communities drive five University of Washington College of Education students named to the inaugural Husky 100 class.

Representing the College are:

For some young men of color, college might seem a world away.

To an African-American boy growing up in poverty, a Latino son of migrant farmworkers or a young Native American man living on a remote reservation, the path to post-secondary education can be hard to visualize. And once on campus, the reality can be daunting. Role models might be lacking, the sense of isolation overwhelming.

Leaving friends behind to move to a new city.

Dealing with a relationship that ends.

Watching as classmates or relatives are victimized by violence.

Over the past six years, Stephanie Gardner has helped lead a sea change in achievement by historically underrepresented students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors at the University of Washington. As director for the Pacific Northwest Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation at UW, the College of Education alumna and current doctoral student is opening pathways into STEM fields.

For many young people growing up in marginalized communities, it can be difficult to see futures filled with opportunity.

Nikum Pon (PhD '13) dreams of changing that.

Before his dream came to life, however, Pon had to escape one of the worst tragedies of the 20th century. Born in Cambodia during Pol Pot's rule and a genocide in which more than a million Cambodians died, Pon fled with his family to a refugee camp in Thailand.

Dalya Perez grew up on the University of Washington campus, playing with the ducks in Drumheller Fountain and running through the cherry blossom lanes. Yet it was hard to picture herself as a future UW student during those childhood years.

Her parents came to the United States as immigrants, and UW was a place of opportunity — her father worked as an officer with the campus police department while her uncle worked as a custodian.

A recent study by a UW College of Education professor and doctoral student found that graduates of the University of Washington’s two early-entrance university programs excelled in their academic and subsequent professional lives.