Community Engagement

Bringing the best to IU, and IU to the best

IU has never had more resources, outreach programs, and financial aid available than it does today, and many potential students simply need to be made aware of what's out there for them.

Through campus visits and other programming, we pair middle, junior, and high school students with current IU students to offer "near-peer" perspectives of the college experience at Indiana University. We also team with other departments on campus to offer detailed timelines and realistic steps pre-college students can take to prepare academically, socially, and financially for life after high school.

Approximately 2,500 minority precollege students and their families connect with IU through OVPDEI each year.

Campus visits and programs

Our Community & School Partnerships program within OVPDEI seeks to present Indiana University as an attractive option for the underrepresented populations we serve. Regardless of a student's choice of school—or even his or her decision to attend college—we want to be a positive change agent in the lives of everyone who passes through our programs.

Gabriel Escobedo, graduate assistant at La Casa Latino Cultural Center

I’m Mexican-American, but I never knew what that meant. I’ve never been Mexican enough or American enough. I always felt like the hyphen in between. It took me a long time to realize that the hyphen in between could either keep the two words apart or bridge them together. The difference is how I choose to use my identity. That’s why I do all this. I want to be the bridge.

Gabriel Escobedo, graduate assistant at La Casa Latino Cultural Center

Start your transition to life after high school