National Scholarship Program Rewards Academically Talented Black Students: The Ron Brown Scholars program is among those rare entities that boasts a 100 percent graduation rate.Many of the scholarship winners chosen in the highly competitive program grew up in abject poverty. Yet, not a single one has failed or dropped out because the program gave them the support they needed to succeed. During its 13-year history, more than half of the scholars have matriculated at Ivy League institutions. Another 21 percent have enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford and Duke universities.
Given that a majority of its candidates are on their way to elite universities before receiving their scholarships, program executive director Michael Mallory is often asked why the Ron Brown Scholars program focuses its efforts on students who are on a solid trajectory, rather than those struggling at community colleges or small historically Black institutions.
