The State of Washington has an offer too good to refuse for 15-year-old Britney Rochte.
If the ninth-grader maintains at least a C average, remains a good citizen and graduates from Washington High School in Parkland, the state guarantees Britney a free college education through the Washington College Bound Scholarship Program.
• Four South Sound teens say program is fueling their hopes
Without a scholarship, Britney figures her chances for a four-year degree would be bleak.
Her 17-year-old brother dropped out of high school and is trying to earn his GED. When their mother works evenings as a restaurant cook, Britney cares for her little brother and sister till their bedtime, fitting in homework when she can.
“We don’t have a lot of money,” said Britney, who dreams of becoming a jet pilot. “My mom’s trying to raise four kids on her own.”
The state created the College Bound program in 2007 to motivate and assist teens like Britney to graduate high school and go to college.
So far, 21,000 students have signed up, about one-third of the 60,000 who are eligible, according to the state Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Eligible teens must meet low-income guidelines or qualify for the federal free- and reduced-price lunch program, receive welfare benefits or be a foster youth.
Kids register in seventh or eighth grade, though the state is making a one-time exception to allow this year’s ninth-graders to register, by June 30, if they were in eighth grade last year.
Participants pledge to stay in school and stay out of trouble until they earn a high school diploma.
If they live up to their promise and still meet income requirements upon graduation, the state will provide up to four years of tuition and a $500 annual book allowance at a public or private college or university in Washington.
The initiative, which was recommended by the Washington Learns Commission, aims to repair the “leaky pipeline” of low-income students who either quit school or forgo college even when they graduate high school, said Rachelle Sharpe, the HEC Board’s associate director of student financial assistance.
“The data show that early commitment makes a real impact on graduating from high school, and on persistence in graduating from college,” Sharpe said.
The incentive seems to be working on Britney, who has a B average. She joined the program as an eighth-grader.
“I feel like I’m doing better now that I’m thinking that I can actually get a scholarship,” she said.
“I’m trying harder. I’m paying more attention in my classes. I’m studying more.”
FUNDING FOR THE PROGRAM
The first class of College Bound kids will enter college in 2012.
By 2015, when four years’ worth of College Bound scholars are in college, the HEC Board estimates the program could cost about $18 million depending on the number of participants and how it’s financed.
But given the state’s current struggle to plug a nearly $9 billion shortfall in the next two-year budget, will the money be there for College Bound graduates?
So far, the state HEC Board and a key lawmaker both say yes.
The Legislature has already begun funding the program by buying college tuition units through the state’s Guaranteed Education Tuition program, Sharpe said. That program allows forward-thinking parents to buy tuition credits for young children at today’s prices.
In 2007, the Legislature allocated $7.4 million to buy enough of those tuition units to cover the first two years of College Bound students. Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget proposal would spend the same amount on the next two years; the House and Senate have yet to propose their budgets.
Though it’s more cost-effective to sock away GET tuition credits for the future, lawmakers could follow their normal practice of funding the scholarships in the same budget cycle students use them, Sharpe said.
Legislators have time to decide, noted state Sen. Derek Kilmer, the Gig Harbor Democrat who chairs the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.
“The College Bound payouts don’t begin till fall 2012,” he said.
DISTRICTS AIM TO ENROLL STUDENTS
Schools and the HEC Board are revving up efforts to ensure eligible students know they must apply by June 30.
In Puyallup, Aylen Junior High students and parents hear about the program in class, at orientations, at parent nights, in newsletters and on the intercom. Students signed up for the program at a recent districtwide information night at Ballou Junior High.
In Parkland, once students register, Washington High School counselors monitor their participants’ grades online and offer help if they start to struggle, said assistant principal Tom Edwards.
In the Tacoma School District, where well over half of students are poor enough to qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch, the district has organized huge College Bound recruiting events the past two years. More than 800 students and parents flocked to the district’s College Bound fair this month.
Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Russian interpreters were on hand to help at least 283 teens apply, said assistant superintendent Michael Power.
All told, 1,833 Tacoma students have registered – about half of the district’s eligible students.
“We have so many students for whom college did not previously seem like an option,” Power said. “The state has come through for our neediest kids.” Power said.
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694
Four South Sound teens say The College Bound Scholarship Program is fueling their hopes for the future.
Maria Abando, 14
Ninth-grader at Stadium High School, Tacoma
GPA: 4.0
Learning about College Bound: “I was blown away. I couldn’t stop thinking how much this was a great opportunity. … Especially at Stewart (the middle school she attended when she applied), a lot of kids don’t have the finances to go to college. A lot of kids were like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s going to be a reality! We’re going to go to college!’ ”
College/career interest: Attend University of Washington. Become a teacher, architect or interior designer.
Family: Lives with mom, who works as a preschool paraeductor; sister in preschool and older sister attending Stadium.
College outlook without a scholarship: “The finances wouldn’t be there. I’d have to get financial aid and I’d always have to be worried about debt. It’ll be a big relief for my mom and for me, too.”
Memorable moment: Standing with nearly 300 students to recite the College Bound pledge at Tacoma schools’ College Bound fair this month.
Elishama “Eli” Weems, 15
Ninth-grader at Washington High School, Parkland
GPA: 3.1
Career interest: Doctor, nurse or other health care professional
Family: Lives with mom and older brother who attends Washington High. His big sister attended technical college.
College outlook without a scholarship: “I probably wouldn’t go to college. … I’d work on my sports since my grades are good, and maybe try to get a scholarship in sports. I’m playing football, basketball and baseball.”
College Bound impact so far: “This scholarship program is helping me to stay on task. Last year, I was a talker in class. This year I’m more like paying attention to the teacher. I want to be the first one in my family to go to college straight after high school.”
Duy Nguyen, 13
Eighth-grader at Aylen Junior High School, Puyallup
GPA: 3.93
Career interest: Pharmacist
Family: Lives with 5-year-old sister, mom who works as a manicurist, and dad who works in a casino.
Background: The family emigrated from Vietnam in 2007. “My mom and dad came here because of me. They wanted a good education for me.”
College outlook without a scholarship: “I couldn’t afford it.”
High school goal: “I will try my best to sustain the grades I have right now.”
Devin Spain, 15
Ninth-grader at Aylen
GPA: Not available
College/career interest: Study acting at The Julliard School or study mythology at another university to become a cryptozoologist.
Family: Lives in temporary housing with mom, who’s looking for work, and a younger brother. They moved from Illinois last year.
Why he applied: “I’d rather go to college and get a degree in something I like and something I’m good at, so I’m not like my mom who struggles … from job to job in things she doesn’t like to do. My mom tries so hard to take care of my brother and I.”
College outlook without a scholarship: “I really need this. This is probably the only way I can get into college. My mom thinks I should go for it. She didn’t go to college. She wants me to go.”
All profiles by Debby Abe, The News Tribune
