[OKPromise-k12-counselors] Eight Oklahoma High Schools Named Scholarship Champs

[Alexander, Carol]

Congratulations to the 2018 Oklahoma's Promise State Champions!  As Oklahoma's Promise Champs, these high schools had more 2018 graduates qualify for the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship than any other school their size (using high school basketball classifications).  This was reported to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education at their meeting this week.

Thank you, not only to these schools listed, but to all schools across the state for helping us make a difference in the lives of all of our students.

January 25, 2019 - Eight Oklahoma High Schools Named Scholarship Champs
Media Contact<https://www.okhighered.org/news-center/index.shtml#contact>
Eight Oklahoma high schools have been named "Oklahoma's Promise 2018 State Champions," leading the state in the number of graduates who met the requirements to receive an Oklahoma's Promise scholarship. Oklahoma's Promise is a state program that allows students from families whose annual income is $55,000 or less to earn a tuition scholarship for college or certain programs at public career technology centers.

"More than 85,000 Oklahoma students have been afforded the opportunity to pursue a college education through the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship program since its inception more than 25 years ago," said Chancellor Glen D. Johnson. "These eight Oklahoma high schools are truly champions. The State Regents commend these schools for their outstanding work encouraging and supporting their students' participation in Oklahoma's Promise."

High schools named Oklahoma's Promise 2018 State Champions are:
Class B

  *   Champion: Thackerville, with 11 Oklahoma's Promise graduates.
  *   Runner-up: Indiahoma, with 10 Oklahoma's Promise graduates.
Class A

  *   Co-Champions: Empire and Soper, with 11 Oklahoma's Promise graduates each.  This is the fourth championship for Soper.
  *   Runners-up: Laverne and Tipton, with nine Oklahoma's Promise graduates each.
Class 2A

  *   Champion: Caddo, with 17 Oklahoma's Promise graduates.
  *   Runners-up: Stratford and Stroud, with 15 Oklahoma's Promise graduates each.
Class 3A

  *   Champion: Idabel, with 33 Oklahoma's Promise graduates.
  *   Runner-up: Dove Science Academy (Oklahoma City), with 23 Oklahoma's Promise graduates.
Class 4A

  *   Champion: Southeast (Oklahoma City), with 71 Oklahoma's Promise graduates. This is Southeast's seventh championship.
  *   Runners-up: Ada and Broken Bow, with 35 Oklahoma's Promise graduates each.
Class 5A

  *   Champion: Santa Fe South (Oklahoma City), with 72 Oklahoma's Promise graduates. This is Santa Fe South's 10th consecutive year as champion.
  *   Runners-up: Booker T. Washington (Tulsa) and Northwest Classen (Oklahoma City), with 61 Oklahoma's Promise graduates each.
Class 6A

  *   Champion: Union (Tulsa), with 154 Oklahoma's Promise graduates. Union has been the Class 6A champion for seven consecutive years.
  *   Runner-up: Broken Arrow, with 99 Oklahoma's Promise graduates.
Recognized by many as America's best college access program, Oklahoma's Promise was created in 1992 by the Legislature to help more Oklahoma families send their children to college. The scholarship pays tuition at any Oklahoma public college or university until the student receives a bachelor's degree or for five years, whichever comes first. It will also cover a portion of tuition at an accredited Oklahoma private institution or public career technology center. The scholarship does not cover the cost of fees, books, or room and board.

To be eligible for Oklahoma's Promise, students must apply during the eighth, ninth or 10th grade, and their family's annual income must not exceed $55,000 when they apply. A student's family income also must not exceed $100,000 each year the student is enrolled college.

To receive the scholarship at graduation, students must achieve a minimum 2.50 GPA in 17 core courses that prepare them for college and an overall GPA of 2.50 or better for all courses in grades nine through 12. Oklahoma's Promise graduates also must attend class regularly and refrain from drug and alcohol abuse and delinquent acts.

Students completing the Oklahoma's Promise program continue to be successful academically, with high school GPAs (3.45 average GPA) that exceed the state average, ACT scores that exceed those of their comparable middle- and lower-income peers, and higher-than-average freshman college GPAs.

The college-going rate of Oklahoma's Promise students exceeds the state average for high school graduates. They also have above-average full-time college enrollment, persistence and degree-completion rates. In addition, Oklahoma's Promise college graduates get jobs and stay in Oklahoma after college at a higher rate than non-Oklahoma's Promise graduates.

In order to receive the scholarship in college, students must be U.S. citizens or lawfully present in the United States by the time they begin college.

For the high school graduating class of 2018, approximately 6,000 students met the program requirements to be eligible for the scholarship. During the current 2018-19 year, about 17,000 students are expected to receive the scholarship in college.

Since 1996, when the first students in the program entered college, more than 85,000 students have received the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship. By law, the program has a dedicated funding source that helps ensure that the program is fully funded each year.
For more information about Oklahoma's Promise or to apply online, visit www.okpromise.org. Information is also available by emailing okpromise at osrhe.edu or by calling 800-858-1840.

https://www.okhighered.org/news-center/OKP-Champions-2018.shtml

Carol Alexander
Director, Scholarship and Grant Administration
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.onenet.net/pipermail/okpromise-k12-counselors/attachments/20190125/253686f9/attachment-0001.html>