For the 1,671 students at Benito Juarez High School, Tuesday was indeed a good — let’s make that fantastic — day.
Each one of them — regardless of family income, immigration status or other barrier beyond the ability to do the necessary academic work — will get a full scholarship to college or a vocational training program.
Hope Chicago, the nonprofit now led by former Schools CEO Janice Jackson, plans to raise up to $1 billion over 10 years to provide scholarships for 24,000 students and 6,000 parents at partner colleges and vocational programs, as WBEZ’s Sarah Karp reports in a story published by the Sun-Times.
Kudos are due to Jackson and Hope Chicago founders, philanthropists Pete Kadens and Ted Koenig. On Wednesday, students at Morgan Park High School found out they will get scholarships too. More schools will find out the same in the coming weeks.
This is a feel-good story, without a doubt. But it’s worth remembering this point too: As a nation, we have yet to make headway on reining in the high cost of a college education, even as college or other post-secondary training are absolutely essential as a stepping-stone to a good-paying career. It’s a problem for middle-class families as well as those of lesser means.
Without these scholarships, Juarez graduates — and the thousands more who stand to benefit from Hope Chicago’s work — would likely end up saddled with hefty college loans. Undocumented young people have it even worse: They don’t qualify for federal financial aid or loans at all.
Financial concerns are the overwhelming reason why first-generation college students fail to complete a degree, according to a January analysis by OneGoal, a nonprofit that helps high school students prepare for and complete college. Among first-generation students interviewed for the analysis, 71% cited finances as an obstacle.
There’s plenty of talk on the left about canceling student debt.
What’s really needed is to make college affordable in the first place.
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