This fall, urban debate alumni from across the U.S. are off to college in record numbers. According to a survey of seven leagues (Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Rhode Island and St. Louis), 85% of urban debate league graduating seniors were accepted to college, many on debate and academic scholarships. Three of the leagues surveyed - Los Angeles, New Jersey, and St. Louis - reported 100% of seniors have enrolled in college.

Nationally, only 52% of high school graduates from low income families enroll in college (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). The NAUDL's nineteen leagues operate in urban public school districts where three out of four students come from low income families. For these students, urban debate is closing the college enrollment gap.

In 2012, urban debate alumni were accepted to some of the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities including Harvard, Georgetown, Stanford, Yale, and Emory. Click here to see the full list.

These urban debate alums are better prepared to succeed because of debate. They have experienced what U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan termed "The Power of Debate - Building the Five C's for the 21st Century." In his April 2012 speech at the Urban Debate National Championship Tournament, Secretary Duncan said, "To be very clear, the experience of competing on an urban debate team boosts your college readiness and your chance to succeed in life."

Urban debaters are more likely to achieve college readiness benchmarks in all four ACT subject areas - Reading, English, Science and Math. Debaters had higher average cumulative GPAs at graduation: 3.23% as compared to 2.83%. Previous research has determined that a GPA of 3.0 or better is a key indicator of success in college coursework.