Paul Quinn, JP Morgan partner on work college

JP Morgan Chase, Paul Quinn College 

Paul Quinn, JP Morgan partner on work college

As part of its expansion into Plano, located 32 miles north of its campus in southern Dallas, Paul Quinn College has partnered with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to give 22 students an opportunity to work at the state’s largest bank.

Paul Quinn College (PQC) is the first Urban Work College in America and the only minority-serving federally-funded work college in the Work College Consortium. PQC created the Urban Work College Model in 2015 to provide students the opportunity to gain paid, real-world work experiences while completing their academic requirements.

“We are so proud to partner with JPMorgan Chase. Through our partnership with JPMorgan Chase and their Advancing Black Pathways initiative, we are able to provide our students with opportunities that they have dreamed about and expose them business, finance, and technology at the highest levels,” said Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, president, Paul Quinn College. “We have created a new version of higher education that guarantees its students a way out of poverty. We are thankful that JPMorgan Chase believes in our program and our students.”

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By requiring residential students to work 20 hours per week and allowing them to use part of their compensation to defray the cost of attendance and cutting tuition and fees by almost $10,000, PQC has created a model where its students graduate without accumulating insurmountable debt.

The partnership with JPMorgan Chase is a major step forward in enlisting new corporate partners in the program, which currently has 138 student participants.

“Growing up in Harlem, an internship like this would have been a life changing event,” said Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere. “These Paul Quinn Scholars are from all over the country – New York, Detroit, Oakland, Chicago – and they are going to be employed, build their business network and acquire a first class education right here in Plano. This partnership is going to make an incredible difference in their lives.”

Mayor LaRosiliere sponsors the Plano Mayor’s Summer Internship Program. Approaching its seventh year, it gives outstanding public high school students an opportunity to work for some of the area’s most prestigious businesses, including JPMorgan Chase. To date, 562 students have participated in summer internships. Forty percent of the students are first-generation college-bound.

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This effort is part of a broader plan by JPMorgan Chase, the state’s largest bank, to hire 4,000 black students over the next five years through the firm’s Advancing Black Pathways program, which is investing to help black people make gains in three key areas: education, careers and wealth.

“We’re committed to expanding our partnerships with historically black colleges and universities and are being intentional in our work to cultivate black talent,” said Sekou Kaalund, the Head of Advancing Black Pathways. “As America’s largest bank, it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re hiring from the most diverse pool of candidates possible while creating pathways to long-term success for traditionally underrepresented groups.”

The college juniors and seniors working at JPMorgan Chase are employed across several of the bank’s divisions, including commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, digital banking, mortgage and auto.

PQC launched its second campus, PQC-Plano campus, in 2018. More than 60 Paul Quinn College students live in Plano and work at 10 different corporate partners. Students enrolled in the program reside in apartments and complete their classwork at on-site spaces provided by their employers. When PQC-Plano is functioning at full capacity, it will create hundreds of internship opportunities for Paul Quinn students and connect the college with the growing corporate communities in the City of Plano and Collin County.

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“The corporate setting can be very difficult to navigate, and I was extremely intimidated before starting my first internship. Thankfully, because of the work college program, I’ve been equipped with useful skills that allow me to thrive in a corporate setting. I have no doubts that I am now prepared for graduation in May and will be successful with any company that I work with,” said Evelyna Rosario, a Paul Quinn College senior.

“Our goal is to continue growing our corporate partnerships to offer even more internship opportunities for Paul Quinn students and connect the college with the thriving corporate communities in the City of Plano and Collin County,” said Sorrell.

Additional foundational partners of the PQC-Plano expansion include:

• Aimbridge Hospitality

• Ampex Brands

• Bank of America

• FedEx

• JCPenney

• Liberty Mutual

• McDonalds

• NTT Data