Tag Archives: scholarships

College Readiness Month Encourages Students to Plan Now for the Future

It doesn’t matter if your child is 4 or 14, it’s never too early to start planning for college.

That’s the message Houston Independent School District College Readiness Manager Yolanda Norman is spreading this October as the district celebrates College Readiness Month.

College Readiness Month is designed to get students thinking about college and prepare them to not just gain admission, but complete a degree and graduate. The goal, Norman said is to get students thinking critically about their future and long-term plans.

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It Takes More Than Grades to Win a Broad Scholarship

2012 Broad scholarship recipients

Leadership, initiative, community service, and setting realistic goals are a few of the things that the Broad scholarship review committee will be looking for when it reviews applications this spring.

HISD graduates will be applying for $550,000 in scholarships from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, thanks to the district winning this year’s Broad Prize and being named top urban school district in the country. Although the prize recognizes HISD’s efforts as a whole, the direct beneficiaries are students.

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Eight HISD Students Named National Achievement Scholarship Semifinalists

Eight seniors from seven high schools throughout the Houston Independent School District have qualified as semifinalists in the prestigious National Achievement Scholarship Program.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately funded academic competition created in 1964 to recognize and provide scholarships to academically promising African-American students across the country. It is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and works in concert with the National Merit Scholarship Program.

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Class of 2013 sets new college scholarship record

Scholarship offers for the Class of 2013 continue to pour in. As of this week, HISD’s most recent graduates had been offered $186 million in college scholarships – a new record for the district.

“We expect that number to increase even more over the next few months as students continue to receive word about different scholarships they have applied for,” said Alan Summers, Assistant Superintendent of College and Career Readiness.

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Class of 2013 offered more than $150 million in college scholarships

HISD seniors have been offered more than $153 million in college scholarships and the total for the class of 2013 is still growing. So far, Westside High School tops the list with student scholarship offers totaling nearly $26 million. Many students have received multiple scholarship offers from a variety of different organizations, community groups, and corporations as well as individual colleges and universities. That includes Barbara Jordan valedictorian Alejandra Ortega who has raked in more than half a million dollars in scholarship offers.

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Nine HISD Students Split $165,000 in Broad Scholarships

The Broad Foundation Scholarship winners. Click above to see more photos from the event.

Nine graduating seniors from HISD schools were awarded scholarships from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation at a news conference held during the organization’s second visit to Houston in two years.

“We’re so excited to be back in Houston for a second, consecutive year,” said Karen Denne, chief communications officer for The Broad Foundation. “We love coming back to districts that are repeat finalists because it means that their practices are working.”

The Houston Independent School District is one of four urban school districts in the running for the 2013 Broad Prize for Urban Education and for $550,000 in scholarships.

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New Futuro Awards HISD Students with Scholarships, iPad

Thousands of Houston students and their families left the New Futuro college prep fair in October equipped with all the tools and resources necessary to get into college and beyond. But three lucky HISD students left with more, including thousands of dollars in scholarships.

New Futuro’s biggest prizes, a $4,500 and a $2,500 college scholarship, went to Alejandro Reyes from Hartman Middle School and Jennifer Hernandez from Debakey High School. 

“I’m really grateful for this scholarship,” said Hernandez, an aspiring clinical psychologist who plans to attend St. Edward’s University. “College is expensive and any amount is helpful, especially if it helps relieve the burden my parents will face when I attend the university.”  Continue reading →

Houston ISD Seniors to Receive $150,000 in Broad Foundation Scholarships

This spring’s Houston Independent School District graduates will receive $150,000 in scholarships from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

Update, May 29, 2013: The Broad Foundation increased its scholarship giveaway to $165,000 in an effort to distribute more financial assistance to HISD students.

The scholarships are a result of HISD being among the four national finalists for the 2012 Broad Prize for Urban Education, which was awarded today to the Miami-Dade County Public Schools.  This was Miami-Dade’s fifth time to be a Broad Prize finalist.  HISD won the inaugural Broad Prize in 2002.

“We were honored to be among the final four of 75 urban school districts for the most prestigious award in education,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said.  “The consistent progress that our students have made over the past several years is a direct reflection on the hard work put in by the teachers, principals, and every member of Team HISD.” Continue reading →

HISD Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

On Sept. 12, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of the 16,000 high school seniors who qualify for semifinalist status in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program, based on their performance as juniors in the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

 Fifty-six of those students are from HISD schools. Broken down by campus, they are from:

  •  Bellaire HS—33
  • Carnegie Vanguard HS—5
  • DeBakey HS—10
  • High School for the Performing and Visual Arts—5
  • Lamar HS—2
  • Westside HS—1

 The semifinalists, who are the highest-scoring entrants from each state, represent less than one percent of all U.S. seniors. About 90 percent of them are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of those will subsequently win a National Merit Scholarship.

Houston ISD students receive more than $180 million in scholarship offers in 2012

Just received the latest numbers and the task of paying for higher ed is getting a bit easier for Houston ISD students.

HISD students have been offered more than $180 million in scholarships this school year, eclipsing last year’s total by more than $50 million. Digging a little bit deeper, students at 27 schools received more financial offers than in 2011. High schools such as Austin, Booker T. Washington and Eastwood more than doubled their 2011 scholarship offers, while Bellaire, DeBakey, HSPVA, Lamar and Westside reached or far exceeded more than $15 million each in offers. Westside HS also saw the largest overall increase in scholarship offers, receiving more than $34 million in offers, a total of $13 million more than the $21 million its students received in 2011.

Jordan and Worthing high schools eclipsed the $1 million mark this school year.

Congratulations to the class of 2012 for taking advantage of the millions available to continue their education. We encourage future graduates to not waste any time in seeking financial assistance in attending college, as higher education costs are rising and every bit of scholarship assistance now means less of a financial impact on students and their families.