Arkadelphia Promise Sending Students to College at No Cost
By: Deedra Wilson
Updated: November 16, 2012
The majority of students leaving one Arkansas high school are showing up for the first day of college and staying..
The retention rate is better than the state average and some said it's all thanks to a promise.
If students study hard, make the grades and graduate from Arkadelphia High School, they've been promised their college education will be paid for.
There's nothing like the last day of school before the holiday break at Arkadelphia High School.
There's also nothing like being a senior said Crysten Clayborn, "I'm here! I'm towards the end."
But as John Sivils thinks about his senior year a little uncertainty, he said, comes to mind.
"Cause, pretty much my whole school career, has been preparing me for this moment."
It's not just the intense class schedule making sure students are ready for the next step.
It's also the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship.
"That's one of the things I had always worried about, was how I was going to pay for it, said Sivils."
A scholarship given to students to pay their tuition, whether it's a two or four year college, anywhere in the United States.
According to Arkadelphia Promise, 70 percent of students that received a scholarship completed their freshman year and enrolled for a second.
According to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, 61 percent of all Arkansas students enrolled their sophomore year.
Jason Jones is the Executive Director of Arkadelphia Promise.
"It's just one of those things where students don't have to worry about how they are going to pay for college, because we are trying to take that factor out of the way for them, said Jones."
"Now that's there it's a lot less stressful, said Sivils."
"Once I have finished my freshman year, I know that I am going to come back for my sophomore year because of the promise, said Clayborn."
40 of the 63 students who returned to college this fall have made their home in Arkadelphia and attend college in the area.
The Arkadelphia Promise is funded by the Ross Foundation and Southern Bancorp.
