A major and pressing issue facing Europe and the western world is migration and the assimilation, accommodation and education of rapidly increasing culturally diverse populations. Educational institutions, theory, practice and research have had to seek new approaches if not paradigms to address the cultural contexts and changes created by the critical dialectic of home, school and community.

Culturally isolated, under-educated, minority populations are steadily increasing in almost every nation of the post-colonial Western world and for a myriad of reasons, “non-traditional” immigrant students are being further marginalized and denied access to quality educational opportunities and other essential social resources. The effect of this disenfranchisement is social dissension and conflict.

The long-term solution to these complex issues of unprecedented demographic and cultural shift requires fostering economic growth and prosperity in the nations of cultural origin and the nations of chosen residency through education, leadership building and socioeconomic opportunities for the next generation of youth.

“Emigration prevention” through sustained development and socioeconomic opportunities in the nations of origin is as essential as “immigration attention” through the provision of a quality education and socioeconomic opportunities for residents in their new nations of residency.

This paper, bridging the disciplines of sociology, education and social work, details an effective and proven approach that utilizes the dynamics of a comprehensive, community-based, culturally competent, child-centered educational model called U-Prep. Historically, in the face of under-serving educational institutions, this approach has contributed to the enhancement of educational and social resources for students and families in the U.S. and Mexico. The model has been presented in Spain with possibilities for future implementation to address its complex issues of immigrant student education.

Fourteen years of data, using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, has been collected from students, families and educators, show significant increases in students’ interests and abilities in academics and applied knowledge; improved achievement; heightened readiness for higher education and a greater likelihood of college graduation. Students’ families have united and rallied behind the common cause of their children’s opportunity and achievement.

The U-Prep model addresses emigration spurred by rising expectations in the post-colonial settings of origin; the realities of immigration in the nations of choice; the effects of modernization and globalization while fostering educational achievement, creating cross-cultural connections, exchanges and ties to develop an educated, leadership vanguard of high achieving marginalized,  students.

The U-Prep model is highly adaptable and applicable in international, post-colonial urban settings to improve educational opportunities for and achievement by marginalized, underserved students. The cross-culturally adaptable model emphasizes the dialectical relationship between emigration prevention and immigration attention and the role of educational opportunity in addressing the plethora of issues created by a world in a state of extreme and dynamic demographic shift.

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