SOUTHWEST AIRLINES UNDERWRITES AIRLINE TICKETS FOR EAST COAST AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE TOURS SPONSORED BY L.A.-BASED MOSTE
LOS ANGELES–How can you think about going to college if you’ve never set foot on a campus? L.A.-based mentoring and college-access organization MOSTE knows that college tours are an essential part of showing under-served students that their dreams matter and they can get there from here. Southwest Airlines knows that too.
In a new partnership, MOSTE and Southwest Airlines are joining forces to bring more girls to more college campuses in Northern California and the East Coast. Each year, MOSTE opens a window on options for girls in under-served neighborhoods who dare to dream big. They visit top-notch private and public universities and colleges, meet students like them who attend those schools and have an opportunity to see their academic futures all for free.
Having an airline as a community partner in change makes everything possible for these girls, said Cindy Lopez, MOSTE Executive Board member. Limited resources meant we could only visit nearby schools. This partnership with Southwest opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for our students.
When girls enter the MOSTE program in 7th grade, the only colleges they can name are USC and UCLA, Lopez said. College tours trips these girls and their families could never afford introduce students to many more options when they are applying to college, Lopez said. MOSTE currently has successful high school graduates enrolled at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, and Mills College in Oakland, CA schools these girls never heard about before they visited the campuses on a MOSTE college tour.
The MOSTE East Coast College Tour will take place in mid-April, the Northern California College Tour in November.