By Justin Erickson '25 BSB
December 16, 2022

Zeke Jackson ‘23 BSB was featured in the Washington Post about his experiences and advocacy with the PSEO (Post-Secondary Enrollment Options) program, a dual enrollment program that allows 10th-12th grade students to save time and money by attending college for free while simultaneously fulfilling their high school graduation requirements.

Jackson is the current Executive Director of People for PSEO, a position he has held for over four years. People for PSEO is a nonprofit that is dedicated to promoting, defending, and expanding opportunities for high school students through the PSEO program.

People for PSEO advocates by raising local and national awareness about the role that PSEO plays in closing education opportunity gaps, personalizing education, increasing student autonomy, and accelerating careers.

“We have a unique vision of accelerating careers, lowering costs, and creating a more efficient education system by tearing down the imaginary barriers that separate high school from college,” said Jackson.

This year, People for PSEO is working with a more than doubled budget from the previous year due to fundraising and donations, as well as an expanded team consisting of seven current and former PSEO students. Under the guidance of the organization's Board of Directors, Jackson plans to prioritize the most pressing barriers that prevent greater adoption of PSEO within Minnesota. This includes sharing PSEO information with more than 300,000 people and holding schools accountable under PSEO law. At the same time, Zeke is working on articulating expansion plans for the 2023-24 school year and beyond.

“I draw tremendous faith and inspiration from my peers. I count our youth today to be among the most resilient, ambitious, and emotionally intelligent problem-solvers in America who will lead our nation through the most difficult challenges of the 21st Century. I will continue to work hard so that the PSEO program will continue to benefit students who I may never know and may never meet.”

Jackson was a full-time PSEO student at the University of Minnesota. Through the program, he earned 57 college credits, which set him up for success in his dual majors of entrepreneurship and political science.

“My decision to enroll in PSEO was a game-changer for my career.”

Jackson’s journey was not without obstacles. In his junior year of high school, Jackson was denied admission to his prom because of his PSEO enrollment. He successfully petitioned his school to allow him to attend prom, and the experience drove him to learn how other high schools across the state enforce unfair and sometimes illegal policies against PSEO students.

At the same time Aaliyah Hodge '14 BA '16 MPP, a former PSEO student at the University of Minnesota, had just started the People for PSEO organization. Through the PSEO program and her hard work, Hodge escaped poverty and graduated at 19 with no debt.

Spurred by his experiences, Jackson joined the organization's Board of Directors in order to conduct research on PSEO policies at high schools in central Minnesota. After a few months, the organization had raised enough funds to hire an Executive Director.

“I applied with the vision that People for PSEO should be a youth-run organization,” said Jackson. “I remember giving the pitch that there was nobody better suited to advocate for the PSEO program than a participant who felt unsupported by their high school. I started this role in September 2018 when I was 17 years old. I was starting my senior year of high school then, and now I'm a senior in college.”

Jonah Martinez ‘23 BSB is the President of the Board of Directors at People for PSEO. The PSEO program allowed him to jumpstart his college career and save upwards of $30,000 over two years. With People for PSEO, he hopes to bring dual enrollment to even more students and families so they can have the same opportunities he has had in college because of the PSEO program.

“With the college affordability crisis and the importance of higher education to have an acceptable standard of living, I hope to work to convince more states to adopt similar programs to PSEO to help their own student populations.”

For Jackson, the most surprising thing about his work with People for PSEO has been the amount of resistance, especially from educators and school administrators, to the idea that more than a small percentage of youth have the ‘capacity’ to use PSEO to begin college or trade school before the age of 18.

“This baseline assumption about the capacity of youth creates a lot of issues for youth beyond just PSEO,” he said. “How often do adults tinker with our education systems without considering the opinions of the students who will be directly impacted?”

Htoo Say ‘25 BSB is the Project Director at People for PSEO. By taking PSEO in high school, her college career has been accelerated, and she will begin her major courses earlier. She finds that she is more prepared mentally for college than her peers, as a result of being exposed to the college process in high school.

“The mission of People for PSEO fulfills my goals of giving back to my community. I truly believe in the power of education to level up someone's life. Through our work here at People for PSEO, I am able to give back to a community that helped me so much and bring awareness and make PSEO more accessible for students.”

In March 2022, Jackson published a research paper proving that 60% of all MN district and charter schools were breaking PSEO state law by not providing up-to-date information about the PSEO program. This research resulted in the Washington Post article highlighting the importance of allowing students to take classes on college campuses, and is one of his proudest achievements in the organization.

In his last months before graduation, Jackson plans to continue to fundraise before he takes People for PSEO on full-time.

“I would appreciate the support of the Carlson community to sustain our momentum as I pursue our vision of greater adoption of PSEO in Minnesota... and elsewhere, eventually. You can contact me at zeke.jackson@peopleforpseo.org.”

Students who want to get involved can check out https://www.peopleforpseo.org/ or their Instagram @peopleforpseo.