Claremont McKenna College President Hiram Chodosh Presents The Student Imperative Initiative at White House Summit on College Opportunity

CLAREMONT, Calif., Jan. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today President Hiram Chodosh presented Claremont McKenna College's (CMC) new initiative, The Student Imperative, at a White House summit on college opportunity. With the President of the United States, the First Lady, the Secretary of Education, and over 100 college and university presidents in attendance, Chodosh reaffirmed CMC's commitment to access and affordability.

"By building on our long-standing commitment to attracting, supporting, and educating talented students regardless of need or background, The Student Imperative initiative seeks to raise $100 million for our endowment," announced Chodosh. "Our goal is to meet three inter-related challenges in higher education: the reduction of cost, including for low- and moderate-income families, the enhancement of value, and the development of thoughtful, productive, and responsible leaders."

The Student Imperative builds on CMC's track record of success in providing generous financial aid, post-graduate opportunities, and expansive leadership education. Key elements of The Student Imperative include: empirical study of the perceptions and behaviors of students from families of diverse economic backgrounds; targeted recruiting of cohorts of students with special interests and diverse economic circumstances, including low-, moderate-, and middle-income families; increased efforts to inculcate personal and professional responsibility in pursuit of the College's mission to cultivate thoughtful, productive, and responsible leadership; and the preliminary goal of adding the equivalent of $100 million in endowment to CMC's financial aid resources.

The Student Imperative builds on CMC's historical commitments to need blind admissions and to meet 100 percent of each student's need once admitted. For a student body of 1300 students, CMC currently provides $27 million in combined financial aid resources. The Student Imperative also builds on the Interdisciplinary Science Scholars (ISS) program, which provides full-tuition merit and need-based scholarships for low-and moderate-income students pursuing interdisciplinary science studies.

SOURCE Claremont McKenna College