Saluki Opportunities Awareness Residency (SOAR)

The Saluki Opportunities Awareness Residency (SOAR) program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale is an innovative career development program designed specifically for minority students who are entering their sophomore, junior and senior years in high school. Its primary objective is to increase the number of high school students from under-represented ethnic groups to attend college and major in accounting. SOAR is a week-long summer camp that introduces and educates minority high school students about the expectations of college life and opportunities in accounting, finance, and business-related fields while providing the foundation of financial literacy and the development of interpersonal skills. In addition, the program serves as a motivational tool to inspire students to increase their fundamental competence in the skill sets related to employment in those fields, even while in high school.