Georgia Tech is making it really hard for Atlanta’s top public school students to leave home for college.
The university is pledging to award full, four-year tuition scholarships to all Atlanta Public Schools valedictorian and salutatorian students. According to a district statement, the purpose of the initiative is to increase “exposure and access to Georgia Tech for Atlanta Public Schools most prepared students.”
Qualified students can begin classes at Georgia Tech as early as summer 2015 after completing the university’s prerequisite coursework and admission process. Georgia high school valedictorians and salutatorians are already eligible for full scholarships to Georgia Tech and other state schools through existing state scholarship programs, but Georgia Tech announced Thursday that it will guarantee full rides to valedictorians and salutatorians even if their grade point average falls below the state scholarship requirement level.
“Through a combination of the various financial aid opportunities available, including our own Georgia Tech Promise Program, the Governor’s REACH Georgia Program and other state and federal financial aid programs, we will help ensure that these students can make a Georgia Tech degree a reality,” Georgia Tech President Bud Peterson said in a statement.
With research showing the need for more black students to get involved in STEM, especially in the Atlanta area where 71% of its black public school students are struggling to pass mathematics, we hope that a program such as this will show a positive shift in the STEM student population.
SOURCE: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution