SEO Scholars Miami
Everything you need to get to and through college.
Our History
What began in 1963 as a small New York City mentoring program is now a free, rigorous, eight-year academic program that helps motivated public high school students get to and through college.
SEO Scholars Miami advances our mission of closing academic and early career opportunity gaps by providing motivated public high school students with a challenging and engaging hybrid, out-of-school academic program.
How it works
SEO Scholars Miami is a hybrid program with asynchronous and synchronous online learning in the areas of ELA, math, and more. In-person community days throughout the year and Friday Academies in the summer give students the opportunity to build face-to-face connections with their peers and instructors.
By providing students with online year-round supplemental academic classes, mentorship, experiential learning opportunities, and career exposure during high school, we help Scholars gain admissions to, and graduate from, a competitive four-year college, earning a Bachelor’s degree. While in college, our Miami Scholars receive the same support and services as Scholars who have graduated from SEO Scholars New York City and San Francisco.
“SEO Scholars has given me a roadmap and the confidence to find my voice. With the support of my Scholar Advisor and the staff, I went from being unsure of myself to winning a bill-writing competition.”
Jefferson Beausejour SEO Scholars Miami High School Class of 2028
“Thanks to SEO, this summer I’ll be interning at Amazon! I received this internship through the Amazon Future Engineers scholarship, where demonstrating my passion and interest in technology and showing commitment, leadership, and dedication in other extracurriculars were crucial in securing my position.”
Ali Soliman SEO Scholars ‘24, Syracuse University, Computer Science
“My SEO CPA and Career Readiness Team were always ready to assist me — they helped me grow personally and prepare for my professional field. And SEO’s resources helped me secure an internship at Bronx TBI Services, AHRC NYC!”
Brandy Attah SEO Scholars ‘23, Boston University
“SEO taught me to put my hat in the ring for everything I think I can do and not to be discouraged by the amount of rejections I receive! I’m the measurer of my own successes and won’t let rejections define me because what’s made for me will come to me.”
Mikayle Despaigne SEO Scholars ‘23, Smith College, Posse Scholarship Program
It won’t be easy,
but it will be worth it
Starting freshman year, your dedication is key. You’ll take classes online after school, in person on Saturdays, and do both online and in person during the summer. It’s a big commitment, but ask any Scholar — the hard work pays off when you’re admitted to a top college or university, usually with a significant scholarship.
What you get
You’ll dive right into our comprehensive curriculum, mentorship, and individualized guidance designed to ensure you’re admitted to a competitive college — and have the best experience there.
After-school instruction and tutoring
Weekly after school programming that includes tutoring support, community building, and learning.
Saturday Academy
Three Saturdays a month (during the academic year) you’ll get a full day of rigorous and comprehensive curriculum in reading, writing, grammar, and math. Classes are discussion-based and mimic college courses.
Summer Academy
At our five-week-long Summer Academy you’ll have five days of in-person activities and asynchronous and synchronous learning of advisory, ELA, and math from Monday through Friday.
SAT strategy course
Saturday Academy continues through 11th grade, concluding in an SAT strategy course in the spring.
Mentoring
You’ll work one-on-one with highly-skilled volunteer mentors throughout your Junior year. Interested in mentoring? Visit our Mentor page
Summer Enrichment Programs (EPs)
During the summer before 12th grade, you’ll participate in EPs that promote leadership and independence — including travel abroad, experiential programs, college courses, and professional internships.
College applications and financial aid
With the guidance of our college admissions team, you’ll visit campuses, meet with admissions officers, and receive personalized essay writing assistance. You’ll also get one-on-one counseling and support in applying for scholarships and financial aid so you can attend the best school you’re accepted to, regardless of family income level.
To learn more about the high school Scholars curriculum, check out our Curriculum page.
College Portion of SEO Scholars
Highly trained College Persistence Advisors (CPAs) provide you with meaningful support throughout your college career. The impact is powerful, with an 85% college graduation rate.
Learn more about the College portion.
Qualifications
Students must:
• Be in the ninth grade
• Submit an academic record (report card or transcript)
• Complete several short written statements
• Include a teacher recommendation
Join our mailing list
Join us
Want to get involved with SEO Scholars? We’re always looking for mentors, teachers, and volunteers to join our mission.
Meet our Team
The Rise Fund, TPG
Frequently Asked Questions
Looking for more information? Check out our FAQ for deeper answers to the most common questions.
At SEO, there’s no one way to be a Scholar — it looks different for every individual, and we value the unique perspective each Scholar brings to our community. Our Scholars share a love of learning, they have big goals for themselves, and they know that the kind of success they strive for means committing to their future starting in ninth grade.
Nearly 80% of students in remedial courses in college had a high school GPA of ‘B’ or higher, according to Strong American Schools’ report, Diploma to Nowhere. This means that even the higher-performing public school students aren’t nearly as prepared as their counterparts in more affluent school districts for college. SEO Scholars concentrates on providing the academic enrichment that urban public school students need to be admitted to and graduate from competitive universities.
SEO Scholars is a free program! Everything we provide to our Scholars is free, including but not limited to academic classes, SAT prep, field trips, guest speaker sessions, Enrichment Programs (pre-college, study abroad, or internship), and more.
We concentrate on English Language Arts (Grammar, Critical Reading and Critical Writing) and Math. In the spring of junior year, all students attend free SAT Prep classes given by highly trained SAT prep instructors.
Scholars experience the most academic growth in the summers and return to school primed for the next grade. Since learning can slow during the summer, our program ensures you retain and grow your knowledge for the next school year. Summer is also a crucial time for building relationships with fellow Scholars and SEO team members, and provides meaningful college and career exposure opportunities as well.
Yes! This is an exciting journey, and we encourage parents to be as active as possible. SEO partners with parents to give your child what they need to matriculate and graduate from college. This includes, but isn’t limited to, having you participate in orientation, attend annual meetings, and more.
Miami Scholars experience afterschool learning online on weekdays and out-of-school learning on Saturdays and during the summer. All students participate in in-person community days throughout the year and a five-week online Summer Academy, which includes five days of in-person summer activities.
We look for driven and eager students who are willing to put in the extra time and effort to succeed academically. In addition, we know that a college education can have the greatest long-term impact on lower income families. Therefore, we do not make admissions decisions based solely on income, but we do consider this factor in our deliberation process.
Financial eligibility is assessed on a case by case basis. While financials are evaluated alongside all parts of each students’ application, SEO Scholars have an average income of $40,000.
SEO Scholars is NOT a college access program, it’s a college success program. SEO Scholars MUST commit to the full eight years which includes high school and college participation. SEO Scholars differs from other programs in two major ways:
- In high school
- We provide an engaging and challenging college preparatory curriculum in addition to an array of other services, including SAT prep, college trips, college admissions advising, and scholarship and financial aid services. This academic programming makes a huge difference to our Scholars’ success on the SAT and in college admissions. Our Scholars also enter college ready to succeed.
- In college
- Scholars receive 1:1 ongoing support from a College Persistence Advisor through college graduation. This includes support with college adjustment, academic advising, and career advising, internships, etc. Career readiness workshops are provided during college vacations.
- Our outcomes demonstrate the success of this approach. 100% of SEO Scholars are admitted to college and 85% of SEO Scholars graduate, a rate higher than the national average for all college students (~60%) and dramatically higher than the average for students from similar backgrounds (20%).
No. We’re committed to getting students academically prepared for college, which makes them more likely to earn admission to competitive schools and to earn financial awards like scholarships and grants. The SEO Scholars program assists students in navigating the college admissions, scholarship, and financial aid processes with the goal that they’ll attend a good college without incurring large debts. In the end, however, the student’s effort and commitment is what will determine their admission to colleges as well as their scholarships and/or financial aid packages.
Highly-trained College Persistence Advisors (CPAs) — masters-level educated with a background in either social work or education — provide you with meaningful support throughout your college career. The impact is powerful, with an 85% college graduation rate.
