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Tequaria Harris and Torre White, 2008 Dell Scholarship recipients.
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As part of a scholarship program unique in the type of students it supports and how it fosters those students on their path to a college degree, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s Dell Scholars Program awarded 254 new Dell Scholars with $5,000,000 in scholarship funds. Recipients at Asheville High School are Tequaria Harris and Torre White.
Dell Scholars will receive $20,000 each to continue their higher education for the next six years. In addition, the Dell Scholars program provides its students with technology, resources and mentoring to ensure they have the support they need to obtain a college degree. The additional resources have contributed to the program’s retention rate of 89 percent, well above the national average of 22 percent for these students.
“A college
education opens so many opportunities for young students to pursue
their dreams,” said Kevin Byrne, Director, Dell Scholars. “We hope to
send our scholars with everything they need to be successful in school.
The students will hopefully inspire others in their families and
communities to dream big and empower their minds with higher education.”
“We are
so proud of Tequaria and Torre for being accepted into this
prestigious, national scholarship program,” said Asheville City Schools
Superintendent Allen Johnson. “They have been both scholars and leaders
at Asheville High, in programs like Teens Against Tobacco Use, for
example.”
Most of
the Dell Scholars are first-generation college students, and are chosen
because they participate in an approved college readiness program and
maintain at least a 2.4 grade point average on a 4.0 scale while
dealing with personal responsibilities at home or in their communities.
Requirements also include graduation from an accredited high school,
demonstrated financial need and intent to enter a bachelor’s degree
program at an accredited higher education institution in the fall.
The Dell
Scholars program uses its custom-built software with a sophisticated
algorithm that helps predict a student’s propensity to graduate from
college based on several factors, despite the personal challenges these
determined, low-income students must address in their lives.
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