Its What They Do!
By: Tommy “Tj” Sotomayor

Hundreds of students attend annual Black College Expo

It featured 20 historically Black colleges and universities, scholarship opportunities, and financial aid seminars.

By: Nia Watson

Posted at 6:57 PM, Feb 08, 2024

and last updated 9:57 PM, Feb 08, 2024

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Thursday, hundreds of local high schoolers got a chance to connect with over a dozen historically Black colleges and universities at the annual Black College Expo.

It was held at Bayview Baptist Church in Encanto and featured 20 historically Black colleges and universities, scholarship opportunities, and financial aid seminars.

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“I feel really comfortable right off the bat. There’s a lot of people that look like me, a lot of people I can relate to,” said Alexandra Hernandez, a high school junior.

While the event emphasizes Black institutions, students are able to speak one-on-one with dozens of other colleges.

“For me, I didn’t really know that much about these a lot of colleges, and I feel like it really gave me the opportunity to see different things,” said Kali Groulx, a high school senior.

Seniors were encouraged to bring their transcripts and ACT and SAT test scores to apply at the expo.

Some students were accepted on the spot.

The event also exposed students to different pathways to reach their career goals.

“Southwestern College, their booth is over there. That is probably going to be my first choice because I want to go into culinary arts and they have a good transfer program,” said Niqi Sangha, a high school senior.

Hernandez said these resources aren’t easy to come by in her community, so they’re taking full advantage.

“Especially as someone that grew up in Southeast San Diego, I didn’t have many resources available,” she said. “Not many people could help me out because a lot of people there were unfortunately underprivileged.”

Dr. Theresa Price is the Founder and CEO of the National College Resources Foundation and Black College Expo. She said the goal is for students to walk away feeling empowered to be anything they desire to be.

“It doesn’t matter your GPA. It doesn’t matter where you are in life. We’re here to help you get on that path of connecting students to college, careers, and beyond,” Price said.