Inner-city students get into USC free after 7 years of spending their summers in mentoring program

The University of Southern California held its annual gala Tuesday to celebrate the hard work of 87 deserving inner-city students. They will receive college scholarships after participating in a USC mentoring program. 

The program teaches students how to be successful in college. Almost half of the students at the gala will go to USC, and those that get into the university receive a full-tuition scholarship. 

"We go beyond what high school teaches," said Ricardo Romero, a program graduate. "For example, during school, we're learning basic Algebra. But at USC, they teach us college courses, like Statistics." 

The program, called the "Neighborhood Academic Initiative" starts in sixth grade, meaning the students at the gala had been attending it for seven years. 

"This program has really made me stay focused on going to college," added Romero. "I've never had so much help going to college anywhere in my life."