February 4, 2013 - Eight Oklahoma High Schools Named Scholarship Champs

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Eight Oklahoma high schools were recently named “Oklahoma’s Promise 2012 State Champions” by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for leading the state in the number of graduates who qualified to receive Oklahoma’s Promise, a state scholarship that allows students from families whose annual income is $50,000 or less to earn a college tuition scholarship.

“For the last 21 years, Oklahoma’s Promise has helped thousands of students achieve the dream of a college education by preparing them for academic success, and by providing them with financial assistance,” said Chancellor Glen D. Johnson. “By helping students enroll in Oklahoma’s Promise and providing guidance through their completion of the high school requirements, these high schools have demonstrated extraordinary efforts in preparing their students to continue on a successful path toward a higher education.”

High schools named Oklahoma’s Promise 2012 State Champions are:

Class B

Co-Champions: Moss and Wapanucka with 10 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates
Runner-up: Granite with nine Oklahoma’s Promise graduates

Class A

Champion: Wright City with 15 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates
Runner-up: Seiling with 12 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates

Class 2A

Champion: Northeast Academy, Oklahoma City, with 28 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates
Runner-up: Hobart with 17 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates

Class 3A

Champion: Dove Science Academy, Oklahoma City, with 35 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates
Runner-up: Keys with 29 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates

Class 4A

Champion: Santa Fe South, Oklahoma City, with 70 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates
Runner-up: Douglass, Oklahoma City, with 56 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates

Class 5A

Champion: Del City with 59 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates
Runner-up: Tahlequah with 57 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates

Class 6A

Champion: Union, Tulsa, with 128 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates
Runner-up: Broken Arrow with 106 Oklahoma’s Promise graduates

Oklahoma’s Promise was created in 1992 by the Legislature to help more Oklahoma families send their children to college. Its goal is to prepare students academically for college and to provide them financial assistance.

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 for courses at public technology centers that are approved for credit toward an Associate of Applied Science degree at a public college. 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 $50,000 when they apply. Beginning with college students receiving the scholarship for the first time in 2012, a student’s family income must also not exceed $100,000 at the time the student goes to college.

To receive the scholarship at graduation, students must achieve a minimum 2.5 (C+) GPA in 17 core courses that prepare them for college and an overall GPA of 2.5 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 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 rates and degree-completion rates. In addition, about 92 percent of Oklahoma’s Promise college graduates get jobs and stay in Oklahoma after college, 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.

Since 2007, about 10,000 students from each 10th-grade class have enrolled in the program, with the 2012 graduating class reaching nearly 10,700 students.

During the current 2012-13 year, about 19,650 students are expected to receive the scholarship at a cost of $61.3 million.

For FY 2014, the State Regents have approved a funding estimate for Oklahoma’s Promise of $62.7 million, when about 19,300 students are projected to receive the scholarship. In 2007, the Legislature approved a permanent, dedicated funding source for the program from the state’s general revenue fund. This change ensures the program will be fully funded each year from a stable source of revenue.

For more information about Oklahoma’s Promise or to apply online, visit www.okpromise.org. Information is also available by e-mailing okpromise@osrhe.edu or by calling 800-858-1840.