EAOP, the University of California Early Academic Outreach Program, is UC's largest outreach program and one of the oldest. EAOP expands postsecondary education opportunities for California's educationally disadvantaged students. Since 1975 EAOP has been working with local schools to improve the quality of education by providing challenging academic enrichment opportunities to students. In short, EAOP prepares students for the opportunity to make college possible by working together with families, educators, schools and communities.

1. EAOP students are generally from low-income families and will be the first generation in their families to go to college. They generally attend schools with low API (Academic Performance Index) scores. Two-thirds of EAOP students attend schools in the lowest 40 percent of the school API rankings. Most belong to groups with below-average rates for UC eligibility and enrollment: 57 percent are Chicano/Latino; 11 percent are white; 10 percent are Asian; 10 percent are African American; and 1 percent are Native American.

EAOP has 85,000 students at more than 600 schools in California. The bulk of the students are from the more than 360 high schools we serve. The remaining participants are in middle schools.

EAOP provides academic enrichment programs, which begin in junior high or middle school and last through high school graduation. Services for students focus on academic preparation, academic instruction, test preparation, academic advising, and other activities that help them prepare for college.

Families play an important role in EAOP. Through workshops, conferences, short courses and campus visits, families learn how they can help their students prepare for college. Most of these families have very limited, if any, exposure to college. EAOP helps families understand how they can help make college a reality for their students.

Academic enrichment is a broad term that includes classroom work, academic and college advising, cultural enrichment programs (such as going to museums and lectures), college campus visits, on-campus summer programs that focus on coursework, information on how to build skills to improve classroom performance, test-preparation programs, and workshops on college life. In short, academic enrichment provides students whose families have little or no college exposure with the skills and experiences that college-bound students need.

Only the best schools, generally the private schools or the public schools in the more exclusive urban areas or suburbs, truly have all the resources it takes to help students prepare for college. The bulk of California schools are underfunded-California ranks 40th nationwide in spending on its schools-and preparing students for college is not a priority. Their counselors are overburdened and even though they have the best intentions, most do not have the time to provide comprehensive college counseling. Often, even the very best students do not understand how to prepare for college, how to select a college, or how to apply for college. Families who have never sent anyone to college, have no idea where to begin to help their students make college a reality. Students who attend low-performing schools or schools that do not have an active college-going culture often do not know how to reach their full potential, no matter how bright or hardworking they are. EAOP and other outreach programs help fill this gap so that our state's best students, regardless of their economic circumstances, where they live, or their level of education their families have, can make college possible.

Because the number of prospective students is growing, applying to college is increasingly complex. EAOP advisers stay abreast of changes and trends in higher education and are able to advise students about how to select a college or university, how to apply for financial aid, and how to complete the application process effectively.

EAOP is much more than an informational resource. Certainly, EAOP provides students with materials and resources that help them prepare for college, including information that is available on the Internet and in printed publications. But EAOP does much more than simply provide information. For example, EAOP's Saturday Academy in Mathematics takes students from "high-potential" to "high-achieving." Over a series of weeks, students attend class on Saturdays at the UC Santa Barbara campus, where they participated in a hands-on, innovative approach to learning math. Students who seemed lost when they entered the program were soon helping other students solve complex problems and were well on the way to succeeding in high-level mathematics classes in their schools.

EAOP provides students with the opportunities to study on the campuses as well as to tour the campuses. EAOP offers intensive courses in the math and science for students whose schools do not have the resources to prepare them for, say, advanced calculus. Often, these courses are offered on University of California campuses on Saturdays or during the summer, so that students who may never have seen a major university campus have the experience of attending classes, doing research, using the libraries, and working with real professors and other students.

Even the best students need someone to believe in them, to tell them "You can do this; here is how." Many students come from families where education is not a given. Their parents likely did not go to college, or if they did, attended a community college for a short period of time. Many students come from immigrant families who do not understand the systems of higher education in California because the systems of higher education in their countries of origin are vastly different from California's. Perhaps the families are telling their students "You can do this." But often they do not know how to make college happen for their students. EAOP helps students and their families learn how to make college happen.

Wrong. EAOP is for students who have the potential to prepare for college, students who attend many of California's lowest performing schools. Students are expected to participate in EAOP activities and programs, and are expected to work hard to realize their full potential. But it is not limited to students who only earn the very top grades or test scores at their schools-any student who aspires to college is welcome in EAOP.

EAOP believes that if a student is prepared for the University of California, that student will be prepared to attend any college or university. In 2002, nearly one-third of the EAOP graduating seniors were eligible to attend the University of California. Nearly half of all EAOP students enrolled in a state college or university. Statistically, 17 percent enrolled at a UC campus, 16 percent enrolled at a CSU campus, and 15 percent enrolled at a community college.

Yes. A recent study from UCLA shows that EAOP students are twice as likely to have completed the required a-g subject coursework when compared to their non-EAOP peers. More important, their persistence rates rival those of all UC students.

Absolutely. More than 91 percent of the EAOP students enrolled at a UC campus completed their first year (compared to just over 92 percent of all entering freshmen). Equally important, of those EAOP students who entered UC as freshmen in 1998, more than 81 percent were still attending and working toward their degrees after three years-compared to 80 percent of all freshmen who entered that same year.

EAOP students represent nearly one-third of the historically underrepresented students at the University of California (African American, Native American, Chicano/Latino).