The Posse Foundation will send two new cohorts from Miami and Atlanta to Vanderbilt starting in the 2025-26 school year, on top of its two existing cohorts from New York City and Houston. The foundation gives scholars four-year, full-tuition scholarships.
These additions make Vanderbilt, which was the original Posse Foundation partner, the school with the most cohorts. The Posse Foundation is a nonprofit assisting student leaders in their transition to college. The scholarship limits financial barriers to create more diverse student bodies at universities that represent various backgrounds and geographical areas. Over the next five years, Posse plans to allocate $1 million for the new cohorts, adding to the same amount allocated for the New York and Houston scholars.
First-year Posse Scholar Miles Sims said he believes Posse provided him with great opportunities.
“I am really excited to see how Posse and Vanderbilt will change with this expansion,” Sims said. “Posse has brought me so much more than just admissions to Vanderbilt, but it truly is a family on campus.”
Another Posse Scholar, first-year Eli Gordon, explained how the program is actively achieving its mission and the impact that bringing more Posse Scholars to Vanderbilt’s campus can have.
“I find it inspirational and amazing that the Posse program is expanding into metro areas such as Atlanta and Miami,” Gordon said. “[Expanding Posse] is bringing more diversity, more power, more collaboration and more diverse thoughts and minds into the Posse program at Vanderbilt and the program overall.”
Posse Scholars at the same university have opportunities before and throughout the school year to connect and get to know each other. First-year Posse Scholar Joe Sorrentino said he is grateful for the connections Posse has given him.
“Immediately, my group of friends was centered around my Posse members, eventually branching through each of our new connections,” Sorrentino said. “Upperclassmen in Posse helped me navigate campus in a way that made adjusting so much easier, allowing me to find a home at Vanderbilt much faster.”