USC Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative
The NAI is a rigorous, seven-year, pre-college enrichment program designed to prepare students from South and East Los Angeles for admission to a college or university, and to provide support for college academic persistence and efficacy through their first undergraduate degree.
Students participate in a program of after-school tutoring and Saturday morning classes. Parents also regularly attend a Family Development Institute program to create a 360-degree, hands-on approach to reinforce student academic goals and study habits, and to maximize a healthy home environment.
Students participate in a program of after-school tutoring and Saturday morning classes. Parents also regularly attend a Family Development Institute program to create a 360-degree, hands-on approach to reinforce student academic goals and study habits, and to maximize a healthy home environment.
This year we have a total of 95 high school seniors graduating, who have already received acceptances from USC, the UCs and the Cal States, and other private colleges including Stanford. Every one of these scholars will attend college in the fall, increasing the number of NAI scholars graduating from our program to more than 1,400.
In 2013, NAI expanded to East Los Angeles - the area surrounding the USC Health Sciences Campus and graduated a third cohort this past June. NAI now serves almost 1,000 6th through 12th graders in East Los Angeles and South Los Angeles. Additionally, almost 300 scholars in colleges receive services from NAI's College Success Initiative, which provides support to help students graduate from higher education. We are also embarking on a new expansion in southwest Los Angeles with the intention of recruiting significant numbers of students and families to the college pathway with recruitment underway for our first cohorts beginning in Fall of 2023.
NAI's success has garnered national attention from educators and the media. NAI is currently engaged in coaching a North Carolina nonprofit, which has cohorts through the 11th grade and anticipates their first graduating class in Spring 2024. There is also a nascent effort by the University of San Diego to begin their own NAI program in Fall of 2023.
Our students overcame many obstacles during the pandemic on their journey to college, and your support of the NAI was very crucial. On behalf of the entire USC McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative, the scholars and their families, we thank you for your generosity. As you reflect upon your philanthropic priorities, please consider making a gift to NAI.
In 2013, NAI expanded to East Los Angeles - the area surrounding the USC Health Sciences Campus and graduated a third cohort this past June. NAI now serves almost 1,000 6th through 12th graders in East Los Angeles and South Los Angeles. Additionally, almost 300 scholars in colleges receive services from NAI's College Success Initiative, which provides support to help students graduate from higher education. We are also embarking on a new expansion in southwest Los Angeles with the intention of recruiting significant numbers of students and families to the college pathway with recruitment underway for our first cohorts beginning in Fall of 2023.
NAI's success has garnered national attention from educators and the media. NAI is currently engaged in coaching a North Carolina nonprofit, which has cohorts through the 11th grade and anticipates their first graduating class in Spring 2024. There is also a nascent effort by the University of San Diego to begin their own NAI program in Fall of 2023.
Our students overcame many obstacles during the pandemic on their journey to college, and your support of the NAI was very crucial. On behalf of the entire USC McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative, the scholars and their families, we thank you for your generosity. As you reflect upon your philanthropic priorities, please consider making a gift to NAI.