Renton students miss grant chance
Published 10:03 am Thursday, April 14, 2011
Hundreds of Renton students could be missing out on an opportunity to get money for college, a Seattle think tank has discovered.
The Seattle-based Community Center for Education Results released updated information about the progress being made on its ambitious 10-year regional project aimed at driving major improvements in education results in South Seattle and South King County on Monday.
The results showed that 61 percent of Renton School District’s eligible eighth graders have not signed up for the College Bound Scholarship.
The scholarship covers the cost of tuition at Washington’s public colleges and universities. To be eligible, low-income students sign a pledge by June 30 of their eighth-grade year to graduate from high school, demonstrate good citizenship and seek admission to a college or university.
Last year in May superintendents started to meet every month and work with area community colleges to share information like the College Bound Scholarships, said Mary Jean Ryan, executive director of CCER.
The scholarship is a state program and there is a big effort under way in each district to get students signed up.
In the Renton School District, Ryan received word recently that the city’s housing authority would be sending out letters to families with eligible students.
The College Success Foundation is also involved in partnership with the state’s Washington HIgher Education Coordinating Board.
They are identifying coordinators in each district and each school who can lead the sign-up effort of low-income seventh and eighth graders.
Schools are hosting college nights and translating the information into different languages and adding incentives to sign-up, Ryan said.
Eligible students must maintain a 2.0 grade point average and stay crime-free to be eligible for the scholarship when they graduate. The scholarship covers tuition and fees, plus $500 for books.
For more information or to apply to the program, visit www.hecb.wa.gov/collegebound.
