November 7, 2025
Spelman and NEON aim to expand college readiness and awareness for students who are historically under-represented in higher education.
Spelman College is expanding its reach beyond its Atlanta campus. In partnership with the National Education Opportunity Network (NEON), the HBCU is offering college-credit courses to high schoolers who might otherwise never step into a college lecture hall.
Previously known as the National Education Equity Lab, the NEON initiative brings credit-bearing courses to Title I schools.
The Education of Black Girls, taught by Andrea Lewis, Ph.D., was the first course offered in 2023. After a successful run, the program now includes another course, African Diaspora and the World, which began Fall 2025, taught by Chatee’ Omísade Richardson, Ph.D. Beginning at 50 students, the courses now serve up to 300, according to a press release from Spelman College.
“The growth has been outstanding,” said Lewis. “To be able to offer a college-level course to high school students in underserved communities has been transformational. Spelman has always been community-oriented, but this has taken our mission to the next level. It speaks directly to high school students’ continued interest in HBCUs and recent national trends in increasing admission rates at HBCUs.”
Laura Moore, NEON’s chief higher education officer, stressed the need for educational equity.
“With 60 percent of NEON scholars identifying as female and 93 percent self-reporting as students of color, we are honored to not only bring rigorous courses but ones that have proven deeply impactful for our scholars,” Moore said.
To date, the initiative has reached 767 students from 47 high schools across 19 cities. Since 2019, NEON’s model has connected colleges like Harvard, Stanford, and Spelman to more than 25,000 students across 30 states.
By opening its curriculum to high-school students and reinforcing mentorship-based models, Spelman and NEON aim to expand college readiness and awareness for students who are historically under-represented in higher education.
Spelman is riding a high in the second half of 2025. As the institution continues to invest in the community others are investing into the HBCU. Just recently, Mackenzie Scott, philanthropist and former wife of Jeff Bezos, gifted the school with a $38 million donation. The HBCU thanked Scott for her generous donation, hailing the windfall as an opportunity for “enhancing the student experience, modernizing technology, and expanding financial opportunity.”
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