December 17, 2007
Rochester scholarship to aid city students
dave.andreatta@rochester.edu
In an effort to attract greater numbers of
talented students in its own backyard and expand higher education
opportunities in its home city, the University has launched a scholarship
initiative that would waive up to $100,000 in tuition costs over four years
to graduates of Rochester public high schools who enroll at the University.
The Rochester Promise, which will be available to new
students in the 2008-09 year, will offer a $25,000 tuition benefit annually
to students who earned their high school diploma in the Rochester City
School District (RCSD) and were admitted to the University on academic
merit.
The University estimates the scholarships will be
worth $1 million annually, enough to finance 40 students a year who might
otherwise have considered a degree from the University out of their
financial reach. The funding will be expanded should the number of
qualified candidates swell beyond the current estimation.
“This initiative will make it possible for many
more promising young students to aspire to the highest quality education
they can achieve,” says President Seligman, who unveiled the
Rochester Promise at a December 5 press conference alongside Director of
Admissions Jonathan Burdick, Rochester Interim Superintendent of Schools
William Cala, and Mayor Robert Duffy.
“Rochester Promise reinforces the University of
Rochester’s longstanding commitment to our city and to fostering
quality education and exciting opportunities in its public schools,”
says Seligman.
Eligible students must have attended a district high
school for the entirety of their junior and senior years and be admitted to
the University for the fall of 2008 or thereafter. The award also is
available for college students who transfer to the University and meet the
RCSD attendance requirement.
The benefit is a University-funded scholarship,
according to Burdick, for graduates of Rochester public high schools who
have proven they can make the grade by meeting admissions requirements.
Recipients also may apply for financial aid based on need and merit from
other sources.
“Students excelling in our city schools can
bring a critical and valuable perspective to campus,” Burdick adds.
“But for many, the financial barriers to universities like Rochester
have become discouraging. I hope this pledge will make it easier for both
current seniors and future graduates to become excited about the prospect
of attending one of the country’s leading universities in their
hometown.”
In addition to the tuition commitment, the University
will waive its application processing fee for students at Rochester city
public schools. The fee is $50 for applications sent by mail and $20 for
those filed online.
The initiative has received ringing endorsements from
the outgoing and incoming superintendents of the Rochester school system.
“Through Rochester Promise, the University of
Rochester is opening its doors wider than ever before to our
students,” Cala says. “This program removes the financial
barriers from high-achieving students and allows them to reap the benefits
of a world-class college education.”
Incoming Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard, who could
not attend the announcement, says the Rochester Promise “will go a
long way” to expanding the educational opportunities of city
students.
“We need to create a ‘college-going’
culture in our district by ensuring that our secondary school curriculum is
rigorous, aligned to post secondary standards, and that our students are
prepared for the challenge,” he said in a statement. “I look
forward to working with the University in our efforts to improve our
students’ preparedness for post-secondary studies.”
Over the last four years, 391 graduates of Rochester
city high schools have applied to the University. Sixty-nine of those were
accepted and 33 enrolled.
Duffy called the announcement “great cause for
celebration,” especially for some families in impoverished city
neighborhoods who view sending their children to the University as
“something that maybe is an unattainable goal.”
Rochester Promise is the University’s second
tuition benefit program set aside specifically for RCSD students. In 2004,
the University began offering full-tuition scholarships to graduates of the
International Baccalaureate Program at Wilson Magnet High School in the
RCSD.
It also is the second University initiative announced
in recent weeks that is aimed at supporting the college aspirations of RCSD
students. In October, the University launched two new Upward Bound programs
funded by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education
that will expose as many as 100 district students to college life over four
years.
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