A New Path to College

During her junior year of high school, Katie Haghighi found herself with a new kind of motivation to get through those moments when she didn’t want to do her homework. She thought of the friends who had joined her on the UW–Madison campus a few months earlier and the time they spent as the first students to experience the Business Emerging Leaders (BEL) Program at the Wisconsin School of Business.

“If I found that I didn’t feel like studying for a test I’d say to myself, ‘Come on Katie, you need to keep your grades up so you can get back to BEL,’” says Haghighi, who returned for her second BEL summer in 2017.

The path from a high school classroom to a summer in the BEL Program at Grainger Hall, and potentially a future fall as a Wisconsin School of Business student, is a new one. The merit-based three-year pre-college program began in summer 2016 thanks to a transformative gift from an anonymous donor who wanted to help students with diverse and underrepresented backgrounds become part of the WSB community.

“We want to increase the diversity of our student body and we know this starts before college,” says Brian Mayhew (BBA ’89), associate dean of the undergraduate program and Arthur Andersen Alumni Professor of Accounting & Information Systems. “We have to build relationships with people and show them a path they can take to college.”

Haghighi was one of 30 students who formed the first BEL cohort, with groups of 20 coming to campus in following summers. Students go through a rigorous application process to become part of the BEL program and, once in, must maintain a high grade-point average and earn admission into UW–Madison and into WSB. If they do, they will receive a full four-year tuition scholarship to WSB that is also part of the anonymous gift.

“It’s the best way to spend my summer,” Haghighi says. “I would give up my whole summer to be on campus and learn.”

Students fit a lot of learning into their stay on campus, and have some fun, too. They begin preparation for ACT exams, learn about business analytics and communication, explore entrepreneurship, and even participate in case competitions. They take site visits out of town to companies such as Target in Minneapolis and Google in Chicago.

All activities fall within four pillars that form the foundation of the BEL Program: community-building, personal growth, academic development, and career exploration.

It’s all part of familiarizing students not just with the college experience, but with the opportunities that await them with a business career. That’s a hard thing for many students to wrap their heads around when they are high school sophomores applying to be BEL scholars, but they aren’t required to come to campus with a plan.

“We want kids who are excited about the idea of getting a business degree,” Mayhew says. “We’d like to see students with motivation and persistence.

“These students have been here for two summers now; that already shows something pretty valuable about them.”

Anthony Pittman came to BEL the first year knowing he was intrigued by popular products, but had no idea what that could turn into. After spending time at WSB he learned he could make a career out of brand marketing and that it was a strength of the School.

“After my first summer, I realized I was being exposed to things that other students in my high school weren’t being exposed to,” Pittman says. “After that I took it upon myself to learn more about business because my school doesn’t have much to offer relating to it.”

For Nicholas Flores-Sanchez, BEL created a more specific path for him when he got back to his high school. He chose business classes for his electives, and joined DECA for the first time. And, he studied more.

“I’m representing BEL,” he says. “BEL deserves for me to try 120 percent in school. It motivates me to do better and to give it my all.”

Support doesn’t stop when summer ends. Mentors check in regularly to see how things are going. The students take advantage of technology and connect for group chats throughout the year. They call each other to bounce off ideas or get a little help on projects. They’ve learned to create a network, a skill as important to their future business careers as analytics or ACTs.

It’s a network the students hope will continue for many years to come.

“At BEL, it’s nice to be surrounded by a group of people who are already going to college,” Pittman says. “Now we know good people who have the same goals we do.”