For many low-income students, dreams of higher education have little chance of coming true. But in Tacoma, the public schools have teamed up with the leading low-income housing agency to help put more students on the path to college.
The College Bound Scholarship program, created by the Legislature in 2008, is the vehicle for making those higher ed dreams come true. Applicants, who sign up as middle-schoolers, must qualify for free or reduced-price meals or be a foster child, maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average through high school and commit no felonies. If they fulfill those requirements, the program will pay the tuition to college or private career school, fees and a $500 annual book stipend.
But the challenge is getting youngsters to apply for the program. They have to sign up at the end of their eighth-grade school year, and it can be hard to get kids that age to focus on anything, much less on a goal more than four years down the road.
That’s where the Tacoma School District and the Tacoma Housing Authority have excelled. They’ve both worked hard to make sure eligible students are aware of the scholarship program and what they need to do to apply and stay eligible. That partnership, says Superintendent Art Jarvis, “has been very powerful for our students.”
The results are impressive. In the 2008-2009 school year, 46 percent of the state’s eligible students had signed up for the scholarship. But 77 percent of eligible Tacoma public school students and a whopping 83 percent of eligible THA residents were enrolled in the program. Somebody is doing something right, and other South Sound school districts with big populations of low-income students should take note.
The benefits of signing up for the College Bound Scholarship program go beyond giving students hope for the future. The carrot being held in front of them – a paid college education – is an incentive to work hard in school and stay out of trouble. Those goals are good ones not only for the students but also for their communities.
Learn more
Go to the Higher Education Coordinating Board Web site: www.hecb.wa.gov. Click on College Bound Scholarship in the left-hand column.
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