El Dorado Promise Leads To 5% Enrollment Increase
by January 19, 2011 7:00 pm 48 views
The $50 million El Dorado Promise turns 4 years old and program officials say that local school enrollment has grown by 5% to 4,646 students since 2007.
Enrollment in 10 surrounding districts has fallen 10%, according to El Dorado school leaders.
“In addition to the increase in enrollment, we have seen the atmosphere change as students, parents and teachers have embraced a college-bound culture,” said El Dorado school superintendent Bob Watson. “From kindergarten, El Dorado students are introduced to the concept of college. They are encouraged to dream big, work hard in school, and know that college can be a part of their future.”
Since 2007, the year that Murphy Oil Corp. announced its $50 million committment, 780 El Dorado graduates – 80 percent of those eligible for the Promise – have attended college using the scholarship.
The El Dorado Promise pays tuition and mandatory fees for all students who graduate from El Dorado High School, reside in the district, and have been an El Dorado Public School student since at least the ninth grade.
El Dorado Promise students can attend any accredited two or four-year college or university in the U.S. The maximum amount of the Promise scholarship is based on the maximum resident tuition payable at an Arkansas public university. In 2010-2011, the highest tuition rate in the state was $6,908 per year.