JFK University Launches Latino Education Initiative - $100,000 in Scholarships Offered
Pleasant Hill, California (PRWEB) May 06, 2014 -- John F. Kennedy University has launched an initiative to meet the education needs of Latinos in California, taking the first step with $100,000 in scholarships for the coming academic year.
Governor Jerry Brown's 2014-15 Budget Summary lists Latinos as the largest ethnic group in California; however, the Campaign for College Opportunity reports that Latinos age 25 and older lag significantly behind all ethnic groups in educational attainment with only 10.7 percent having a college degree, compared to a California average of 30.3 percent.
"It is clear that the future of California's workforce and, in turn, its economy will be largely affected by the education levels of our Latino population," explains Dr. Mac Powell, President of JFK University. "As we celebrate 50 years of transforming lives and communities and in honor of our namesake, the late John F. Kennedy, we are launching this Latino Education Initiative to help do our part to increase education attainment for California's Latino population."
The first step in this initiative is providing Latino students with financial support through scholarships.
President Powell has personally committed $30,000 to diversity scholarships for the 2014-14 academic year, which was recently matched by Ezra Garrett, PG&E Vice President of Community Relations and Chief Sustainability Offi¬cer and Executive Director of The PG&E Corporation Foundation, on Cesar Chavez Day. “We encourage other local businesses to step forward to support us in this important initiative,” says Powell.
Scholarships of $5,000 are available for Latino students focused on completing their bachelor's degree or starting a graduate degree program this fall. Application information is available on the University's website, http://www.jfku.edu.
Moving beyond this first step, the University will be looking for opportunities to partner with area community colleges, colleges, and others to improve the level of preparedness of Latino students for college and ultimately their degree completion rates.
Cathrine Santini, [email protected], http://www.jfku.edu, +1 (925) 969-3584, [email protected]
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