This Thursday: Campus Pride hosts #LGBTQCollege411 National Online College Fair on Thurs, March 17 highlighting LGBTQ-friendly colleges and scholarships

“Access and affordability to higher education is an ongoing concern for many prospective students and their families. For LGBTQ youth, picking the right college is also a matter of safety, support and acceptance…”

Charlotte, NC, March 10, 2016 – Campus Pride hosts national online college fair on Thurs, March 17 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST featuring live chats with 50+ college reps, G+ hangout and Twitter Q&A at #LGBTQCollege411. The fair is free to youth and families highlighting LGBTQ-friendly colleges, scholarships and college prep resources. Fair attendees may win up to $5000 in prizes. Register online at CampusPride.org/CollegeFair

“Access and affordability to higher education is an ongoing concern for many prospective students and their families. For LGBTQ youth, picking the right college is also a matter of safety, support and acceptance,” said Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride. “The online fair provides greater access for every young person to get support and find the right LGBTQ-friendly college.”

This year the online fair includes 50+ colleges including Columbia College Chicago, New York University, Ohio University, Drexel University, Gustavus Adolphus College Georgia Tech, University of Pennsylvania and more.

The Campus Pride national online college fair is the featured spotlight event in an annual series of nine in-person college fairs which happen each Fall in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Charlotte, Boston and Atlanta. These fairs garner over 300 colleges participating and thousands of LGBTQ youth and families. The fair program is in partnership with local LGBTQ youth agencies and community partners.

“Today prospective students and families want to know which campuses are LGBTQ-friendly and they expect there to be specific LGBTQ-inclusive programs, policies and services on campus,” said Windmeyer. “The online fair showcases these LGBTQ-friendly campuses and allows them to outreach for diversity when it comes to gender identity and sexual orientation.”

Throughout the year, Campus Pride also provides the Campus Pride Index free online resource at CampusPrideIndex.org. The index shares profiles and ratings of 200+ LGBTQ-friendly schools along with a searchable scholarship database.

“Campus Pride believes strongly that access and opportunity go hand in hand. We must give all LGBTQ and ally youth access to education in safe spaces where they can learn and be accepted holistically,” Windmeyer said.

Campus Pride encourages youth and families to go ahead and sign up online at CampusPride.org/collegefair The fair is mobile friendly.

Campus Pride is the leading national educational organization for LGBTQ and ally college students and campus groups building future leaders and safer, more LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. The organization provides resources and services to thousands of college students and nearly 1400 campuses annually. Learn more online at CampusPride.org.