The Challenge Scholars program has expanded to offer students at Union High School in Grand Rapids the chance to attend college for free.
“Starting next fall any student who completes all four years of high school at Union High School with a GPA of 2.0 or better, will receive up to two years of tuition-free college at Grand Rapids Community College.”
That’s Diana Sieger from The Grand Rapids Community Foundation. The program is a partnership between the foundation, which has invested $2.4 million in the program, GRCC and Grand Rapids Public Schools.
GRPS Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal says the idea is to plant and foster the concept of college graduation in a generation of students.
“Clear expectations: you will go to college. And if you start young enough, kids believe the dream. And that is what we are providing—a dream.”
There are currently over 900 students at Union in all four grades ,which means this dream could soon be a reality for hundreds.
