A History of Diversity and Achievement
The Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) is sponsored by a federal grant through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which provides academic and support services for disadvantaged students.
Any disadvantaged student who is accepted into the program can receive a wide range of services including tutorial assistance, personal counseling and academic advising. Many HCOP students also give back to the program by coordinating programs, working as peer advisers and serving as mentors in the high school programs.
Qualifying for Assistance
Students may qualify for assistance by being from:
- educationally disadvantaged or
- a financially disadvantaged background as determined by government guidelines.
Dedication to Diversity
Marquette University is among the nation's leaders in educating disadvantaged students. Federal funding for Marquette's HCOP program began in 1981 with the School of Dentistry. Since then, minority enrollment has increased from two to 32 percent, with over 500 graduates.
Marquette's Physical Therapy Department began its HCOP program in 1992. Since then, the department has received six national awards from the American Physical Therapy Association for its minority initiatives. These include the Student Outreach for Cultural Diversity Awareness Award, three Minority Scholarship Awards for Excellence, the Minority Initiatives Award and the Minority Achievement Award.
New Programs
Marquette University has also added these programs to its HCOP curriculum:
- Biomedical Science
- Clinical Laboratory Science
- Physician Assistant Studies
- Speech Pathology and Audiology
