College Program

While working at a community center being directly involved with the vision of its Director, Pastor Willie James became passionate about creating a strategy to influence inner city youth to attend and complete college. Realizing that interest in college started not at the onset of High School but at the beginning of Middle School, Pastor James created a program through Bibleway Christian Center that would incorporate the aspects that he learned while working at the community center while creating a robust outreach program catered toward 8th graders.

With the help of numerous volunteers and business organizations. His vision became a reality in 1999, when Bibleway launched its first College Tour. Six students, their parents, and members of the congregation were excited when the van departed from Washington Street to begin its tour of eleven colleges. This trip was especially exciting because it included students from grades 8-12. The trip was a great success but the organizers realized that they needed to take it a step further in order to truly meet the needs of the youth. By 2000 they decided that that theme for the college tour going forward would be “Striving to Succeed” and that they would name the program after two elders of the ministry who were committed to the success of not just the program but each student who traveled and participated in the program – Deacon Joseph Higginbottom, Sr. and Eugene Jones. And the Higginbottom-Jones College was born.

More than 160 students have toured black colleges and universities such as Johnson C. Smith University, Florida A&M, Norfolk State University, Morris Brown University and Spellman University. They have also toured colleges and universities in the Northeast. Over the years the program has expanded to also include quarterly workshops, bi-annual parental meetings, and tutoring/training sessions with students that prepare them not only for college but managing the application and financial aid process.

The greatest success for the program has been seeing countless students who began the program in 8th grade reaching their dreams of graduating college, many being first generation college graduates, who have traveled back to talk with current students about their journey.

For more information regarding the Higginbottom College Tour please reach out to hjcollege@bwccboston.org