Nebraska College to Pay Tuition for Rural High School Students

Three Nebraska high schools received what many might call the gift of a lifetime this week, when Peru State College offered an 18-month-long variety of academic enhancements, cultural and social enrichment topped with four-year scholarships upon high school graduation for all current members of the schools junior classes. Peru State Colleges High School to College Success Strategy" Partnership Initiative, brainchild of Peru State President Ben E. Johnson, will provide the unique opportunity for students at Shickley, Rising City, and Prague High Schools. This effort, probably the only initiative of its kind in the nation, will focus attention on the efforts of Peru State College and its Academic Resource Center in helping students to become focused on attending college and being academically and socially prepared for success when they get there," said Dr. Johnson. For many, the most important part of this program is that it will guarantee access to a college education through a full, four-year tuition scholarship at Peru State College."

PERU, NE (PRWEB) November 14, 2004 -- Three Nebraska high schools received what many might call the gift of a lifetime this week, when Peru State College offered an 18-month-long variety of academic enhancements, cultural and social enrichment topped with four-year scholarships upon high school graduation for all current members of the schools junior classes.

Peru State Colleges High School to College Success Strategy" Partnership Initiative, brainchild of Peru State President Ben E. Johnson, will provide the unique opportunity for students at Shickley, Rising City, and Prague High Schools.

This effort, probably the only initiative of its kind in the nation, will focus attention on the efforts of Peru State College and its Academic Resource Center in helping students to become focused on attending college and being academically and socially prepared for success when they get there," said Dr. Johnson. For many, the most important part of this program is that it will guarantee access to a college education through a full, four-year tuition scholarship at Peru State College."

Funding for the program expenses and scholarships has been provided through a combination of commitments from private sources, the PSC Foundation, and tuition remission programs.

In December 2004 Peru State College will kick off the initiative with host banquets for students, their parents, their teachers and administrators, along with local elected officials in the Shickley, Rising City, and Prague High Schools.

Peru State, which this year celebrated the largest incoming class in its history, sees this program as a way to partner with educators facing a variety of challenges in rural communities in Southeast Nebraska.

It is our mission to provide an affordable, accessible, quality college education to our service area," Dr. Johnson said. This partnership between PSC and the three high schools is our proactive way of answering the challenges of our economy and responding to the needs of our citizens. We have a strategy that will move these students from being successful in high school to being successful in college ultimately to being successful in life."

The initiative is structured so that Peru State will adopt" the three high schools for the next 18 months. All current members of the three high schools junior classes will be the student participants. It is anticipated that all current juniors will continue for 18 months to graduation in May 2006.
   
All 2006 graduates (currently juniors) in May/June, 2006 will receive full four-year tuition scholarships to Peru State College, to be used beginning August 2006.
   
Starting in January 2005, Peru State and its Academic Resource Center (ARC) personnel will begin working with these high schools and junior class members on a regular basis to enrich and support the high school programs in ways that focus on developing college success strategies and skills.
   
ARC teams will assess and diagnose each students strengths and weaknesses with individual action plans to enhance their potential for academic success. Peru will also host services, workshops, and visits to the high schools.
   
Adopted" students will also be made official Peru State College Bobcats with college email addresses, access to facilities and online library resources and season tickets provided for all events on campus for the next 18 months.

We have some other features of this partnership in mind, including summer learning cohorts, academic troubleshooting, and some opportunities for parents to get the latest information on the college experience and what to expect," said Dr. Johnson.
   
Students can also get a jump on their college education in the form of scholarships for participants interested in taking Peru State College Early Entry courses. Interested students could potentially earn 12 to 15 hours of Early Entry college course credit by the time the students graduate high school and begin college.
   
Peru State Colleges Campus of a Thousand Oaks" is nestled in historic Southeastern Nebraska. The states first college, Peru State offers Bachelors degree programs in arts and sciences, pre-professional fields, professional studies and teaching. The School of Education and Graduate Studies offers a Master of Science in Education degree with a major in curriculum and instruction. Peru State is a member institution of the Nebraska State College System.

For more information, visit Peru State on the web at www.peru.edu or call 1-800-742-4412.

Contact: Alex Greenwood 402.872.2429 or agreenwood@oakmail.peru.edu

More information about Peru State along with free-use images and logos is available here: http://marketing.peru.edu/

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