RISE 5280 is excited to announce our 2023 Spring HBCU Tour!!!
From March 19th - March 24th students we will be taking students from various high schools around Colorado to tour 7 HBCU's (Morgan State University, Virginia State University, Howard University, Bowie State University, Lincoln University, Norfolk State University, and Hampton University).
The tour also includes cultural experiences (ex. museums, etc...)
For a true college experience, parents are not allowed to attend.
No minimum GPA required. Must be in high school - no exceptions.
* Register today to save your spot.
Cost: $1850 / $300 deposit to reserve spot. Deposit is collected later (we send out an invoice once you sign up). Payment plans are available for the remaining balance.
Cost includes:
Round trip airfare
Seat on tour bus
Hotel stay
3 meals/day
T-shirt for every day
Cultural experiences (ex. museum, etc...)
We will only be taking 45 students. The first 45 youth to pay their deposits will close out this trip.
* Tour FAQs can be found at the bottom of the page.
Registration is closed.
From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank our sponsors & partners.
The Colorado Health Foundation
FaithBridge
Create The Flavor
Driven By Our Ambitions
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
The Denver Foundation
Athletics and Beyond logo
HBCU TOUR GALLERY
Check out photos from our Fall 2022 tour.
Frequently Asked Questions
We are the #1 HBCU College Tour provider in Colorado and we believe that every student should have the opportunity to go on one. That is why we do not require a minimum GPA. Our goal is to inspire and educate every student that we touch.
High school students (Grades 9-12) that live in Colorado.
It varies on the tour and can range from 45 to 90 students.
Students are not permitted to leave the tour for any reason including the visitation of family and friends. However, there are times where we allow family members to visit at the hotel.
We do not provide refunds. We strongly encourage all participants to purchase travel insurance.
We will provide parents with a very accurate and detailed itinerary of where we will be at throughout the day. This includes times and locations, even our travel times. While on the tour we use an app called Band to communicate daily with the parents and update them frequently. Also, students are permitted to travel with their cellphones while on the tour.
Every Fall, we do the Battle of the Bands & Bayou Classic HBCU tour. We fly in the day of the event and following that we visit usually 7 to 9 different colleges over 7 days. The colleges vary from year to year.
The Spring tour is 5 days and the colleges that we select vary from year to year.
We like to keep the ratio 5:1 (chaperone to student). In addition to that there is always a certified nurse and media team.
We host virtual or in-person meetings prior to the tour's departure allowing parents, students and chaperones the opportunity to meet and ask questions.
At this time we cannot provide financial assistance, however we encourage students to sign up because once we reach the capacity of students, we close out the list. At that point a waiting list goes up.
We can't make any promises, but we do try to hold fundraisers when possible to assist with tour costs. If we are able to secure funds to help with the tour, we will send out an email to the parents.
Going on the tour is a great opportunity for students to personally introduce themselves to university officials. If possible, seniors should bring a portfolio (including a Transcript, ACT/SAT Test Scores, 3 Letters of Recommendation, Resume and a Sample Essay) for potential interviews with University Representatives.
This is a personal choice. The costs of the tour covers all the necessities needed for the trip. Therefore, any extra money that the student will need is for souvenir shopping.
Roommates will always be gender appropriate and selected prior to the tour departure. We allow students to select their roommates.