Onterria Smith is a 15-year old Sophomore who runs track at Inderkum High School. If she can keep her 3.6 grade point average and score well on the ACT or SAT, she has a great shot at a full-ride.
"I've seen that we have to have high grades and be good at sports and just like stay on our stuff," says Smith. "My mom- she expects a lot out of me. So, I just want to make my mom proud."
As many as 4,000 students will have met with recruiters by the time the fair makes it final local stop on Saturday.
Doctor Alan Rowe founded the United College Action Network. The group's event matches students with historically black colleges.
"We bring colleges that can accept students on the spot, give them options and give them scholarships and waive application fees," says Rowe. "We give them the opportunity to talk to the actual recruiters who can evaluate their transcripts and their information right now."
Brittany Franklin went to high school at Ponderosa before going to Mississippi Valley State. Now she's a recruiter.
"We're really trying to help these kids get in," says Franklin. "We're also doing this early in the year -October and September- scholarships are still available as well as Pell Grants, FAFSA -financial aid- all of that is readily available. So, school can be free and can be cheap as long as they start early."
As Franklin -who is white- can attest, students of all races are being recruited even though the schools are all historically black colleges.
The first day of the event was at Grant Union High School. Friday, the fair will move to Sac High. Saturday it will be at Monterey Trail High School in Elk Grove.
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