The scholarship program was founded in 2010 and was based on the El Dorado Promise, which was formed in 2007. El Dorado’s program was based on a similar program in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

“There aren’t a lot of us,” Jones said. “There are probably less than 20 programs [like the Arkadelphia Promise] up and running in the United States. There are probably another 60 or 80 that are trying to get going. You know, funding is a huge issue. We’re just blessed to have had Southern Bancorp and The Ross Foundation decide to fund our program. It’s very unusual to have somebody willing to pony up the money for something like this.”

Arkadelphia is rare in that respect. The city’s leaders have invested in the future of the community through education.

“We had a few folks here in Arkadelphia who were looking to help send kids to college, and they knew that meant a lot of money,” said Jason Jones, executive director of the Arkadelphia Promise. “And when the Arkansas Challenge scholarship was announced, they realized that it might be possible because the lottery scholarship was going to provide part of the funds to help go to college. So some folks from Southern

Bancorp got together with The Ross Foundation, and they started trying to figure out a plan, figure out a budget. They got it approved. Southern Bancorp went to their board and got it approved.The Ross Foundation, … Mary Elizabeth Eldridge, went to her board and got it approved there. They presented it and started talking to the Arkadelphia Public Schools superintendent, Donnie Whitten. They started moving forward and made the announcement in November of 2010.”

Students who enrolled in the program after Nov. 16, 2010, will receive a percentage of the maximum scholarship, depending on their length of attendance in the Arkadelphia Public Schools. Attendance starting after the 10th grade will not earn a scholarship reward.

In order to be eligible to receive the scholarship, students must accept the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, and losing the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship will also result in loss of the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship. Once the Promise scholarship is lost, it may not be reinstated.

“We’re pretty sure the college-going rate was in the low 60s,” Jones said. “You know, 60 percent, 65 percent, and now we’re averaging around 75 percent of our students that go to college.”

The Arkadelphia Promise will pay for the difference in tuition and funds contributed by the Academic Challenge Scholarship, up to the cost of tuition at Arkansas’ public colleges and universities.

Students may attend any college they choose and receive the funds.

The Promise only applies to Arkansas residents who are also U.S. citizens.

Students must also maintain a 2.5 cumulative grade-point average in high school or score a 19 or higher on the ACT, and apply for two scholarships, not including federal, state or Arkadelphia Promise scholarships.

To date, the Arkadelphia Promise has provided 718 college semesters of funding to Arkadelphia High School graduates and awarded an average of $3,342 per year per student during that span.

“The thing that we’ve really been able to brag about has been the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate,” Jones said. “As an example, this class of 2014 had 87 percent that returned for their sophomore year, which is just insanely high.”

With local students going to and staying in college, Jones hopes to attract new businesses and bring prosperity to the area through the growing populace of college-educated residents.

Staff writer Morgan Acuff can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or macuff@arkansasonline.com.

The post Arkadelphia Promise program continues paving path to college for Badger grads first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

The Arkadelphia High School Class of 2011 was the first to receive financial assistance from the Arkadelphia Promise. During the Fall 2014 semester, four Arkadelphia High School classes had graduated and were given the opportunity to apply for the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship.

“It’s important to remember that this has been a ‘ramping up’ process to get us to the point where we now have four classes of college students enrolled and receiving assistance from the Arkadelphia Promise,” Jones said. “Now that we are at this point, we will be investing about $500,000 per year in our student’s pursuit of college degrees.”

Arkadelphia students have attended 45 different colleges and universities in 10 states ranging from California to New York, including prestigious schools such as the University of Chicago, Baylor University and Belmont University. The two biggest beneficiaries of the Arkadelphia Promise are Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University. Out of all five graduating classes to receive the benefit of the Arkadelphia Promise, 44 percent of students have started school at Henderson and 14 percent have started at Ouachita. The University of Arkansas, U.C.A, Arkansas State University and College of the Ouachita’s have about 20 percent of the Arkadelphia High School graduates over the last 5 years. Almost 6 percent of Arkadelphia Promise recipients have chosen to attend college out of state.

Jones recently announced that the retention rate for 2014 AHS graduates has increased to 87.1 percent, which is 24.2 percent higher than the highest average in Arkansas for the past five years. In the past four years, the retention rates have remained at least 10 percent higher than the state average.

The primary goal of the Arkadelphia Promise is “to increase the college-going rate for local students, reduce the number of students dropping out of college for financial reasons and provide for a more educated workforce.”

The Arkadelphia Promise was first announced on Nov. 16, 2010. For more information about the Arkadelphia Promise, you may visit arkadelphiapromise.com or contact Jones at jjones@arkadelphiapromise.com.

The post Arkadelphia Promise Tops $1,000,000 in Scholarships Awarded to Local Students first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

“Arkadelphia and the public schools have created a college-going culture where we can provide AHS’s students with the best information possible in order to send them to a school where they can be successful,” Jones said. “I’m glad to see that we are consistently sending a high number of our graduates to college and getting them started on the right foot, by not only providing financial assistance, but also guidance on which schools will be the best fit for them.”

The success of the Promise is often mesasured by comparing the college-going and college retention figures of AHS’s graduates to that of Arkansas’s and the national averages. AHS graduates consistently enroll in, and stay in, college well ahead of their peers. Promise graduates have steadily been ahead of the current national college-going rate of 65.9 percent, with 75.4 percent enrolling in 2014, 74 percent enrolling in 2013, 70.8 percent enrolling in 2012, and in 2011, the first Arkadelphia Promise class enrolled in college at a rate of 75.3 percent. Prior to the introduction of the program, the number of AHS graduates enrolling in college hovered around 60 percent.

The retention rate for AHS graduates between their college freshmen to sophomore years is also telling of Promise’s effectiveness at getting students to college, and keeping them there. In 2013, Promise graduates stayed in college at a rate greater than 10 percent compared to the highest Arkansas average in the last five years of 62.9 percent. The Promise graduates’ retention rates since the introduction of the program has remained 10 percent or better since the beginning, with 70 percent retention in 2011, 82 percent in 2013, and 76.9 percent in 2014.

These positive results come at a time when national trends in college enrollment are seeing a decline. In October of 2013, the national college enrollment rate was 65.9 percent, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and New York Times. That was a decrease from 66.2 percent the previous year and the lowest national enrollment rate in a decade.

Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, told the New York Times that many parents in the past paid for college by refinancing mortgages, an alternative no longer available to many families.

“Falling college enrollment indicates that upward mobility may become more difficult for working-class and disadvantaged high school graduates,” Shierholz said.

Jones holds several family meetings throughout the year to answer questions and provide helpful information for navigating the process of paying for their child’s college education. He also counsels every member of AHS’s senior class during their fall semester and holds informative group sessions for juniors.

For more information regarding the Arkadelphia Promise, contact Jones at jjones@arkadelphiapromise.com, or call 870-210-1271.

The post Arkadelphia Promise Numbers on the Rise first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

“The Arkadelphia Promise was announced in November of 2010, and since then, AHS graduates have never had a better outlook for higher education opportunities,” Jones said. “We always look forward to this time of year, because we were confident our students were doing well in college and these numbers provide proof of what we suspected.”

The retention rate of freshmen to sophomore students is a common way to determine student success in college. By comparison, Arkadelphia’s current sophomores are excelling when compared to state and national retention rates. The rate for Arkansas sophomores is 61.4 percent, and on the national level it is 66.5 percent.

“Last year, we were very excited to see 70 percent of our first Arkadelphia Promise freshmen return for their sophomore year,” Jones said. “They were also well above the state and national numbers.”

According to Jones, the sophomore to junior retention rate for the original class of the Arkadelphia Promise is 85.9 percent.
“This is what we hoped for when we began this journey three years ago with this inaugural group of students,” Jones said. “This is proof that the Arkadelphia Promise is providing a better future for the students in Arkadelphia.”

Jones also announced that the AHS graduates who made up the college freshman class of 2013 went to college at a high rate. With the help of the Arkadelphia Promise, 74 percent of the graduates from AHS entered college the fall semester of 2013. In 2010, before the Arkadelphia Promise was announced, only about 60 percent of graduates entered college.

“The bottom line is that we are seeing our AHS graduates, and Arkadelphia Promise recipients, go to college and stay in college at a very high rate,” Jones said. “I personally think it is a credit to the community, the Arkadelphia Public Schools, and the Arkadelphia Promise funders, the Ross Foundation and Southern Bancorp, for fostering an environment that has created such a success story. The goals of the Arkadelphia Promise were to remove financial obstacles for students and to create an educated workforce and these numbers prove that this is happening. This is a great accomplishment in the young life of this organization.”

For more information regarding the Arkadelphia Promise, contact Jones at jjones@arkadelphiapromise.com, or call 870-210-1271.

The post Outstanding retention rate for AHS grads continues to climb first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

Last fall a scholarship became available to Arkansas students for the first time. The Hagan Scholarship Foundation is based out of Columbia, Missouri and was established to help students from rural counties from 6 states, including Arkansas. Jason Jones said, “This scholarship is worth up to $10,000 a year and only 23 were awarded to Arkansas students.” The scholarship has a rigorous award process, including two in-person interviews and a lengthy application process. “We are so excited when we see our students go out and pursue every opportunity that we put in front of them. John is a great student and will excel in life because he follows through on the tasks before him,” Jones stated.

When asked about the scholarship, Jon Sivils said “I’m just glad that Jason (Jones) brought the information to my family. We would have never known about the Hagan Scholarship or the whole process without him.” Sivils is now in his second week of college at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. Parents and students looking for scholarship opportunities should start by going to the www.arkadelphiapromise.com website and scheduling an appointment with Jason Jones. He can be reached at the Arkadelphia Promise office at 210-1271.

The post Arkadelphia Promise helps student get Regional Scholarship first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

“It is great to see that our students are staying in college at a rate more than eight percent higher than the state average,” Jones said. “We know that those who make it back to college for their sophomore year are much more likely to finish, so this is a big step to a degree for these students.”

The AHS class of 2011 graduates were the first to be eligible for the Arkadelphia Promise scholarship, which Jones largely credits for the high retention percentage. In addition to the scholarship, the Arkadelphia Promise program provides assistance through college advising and financial counseling for AHS students.

“We are excited to know that the work we are doing to help advise and assist our graduates is really making a difference,” Jones said. “We will continue to help Arkadelphia students find the best college fit for them, their family and their situation.”

Arkadelphia Superintendent Donnie Whitten also linked the Arkadelphia Promise and an increase in academic rigor at AHS to students being able to stay in college.

“Our goal is to produce students who have every tool, and are prepared in every way possible, to be successful in life after high school,” Whitten said. “For those graduates who pursue a college degree, the things they need most are academic fortitude to make the grades and financial assistance to pay the bills. We are one of very few districts that do both.”

Forty of the 63 students who returned to college this fall are living in Arkadelphia and attending colleges close to home, including Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, UACC-Hope and COTO in Malvern.

The Ross Foundation and Southern Bancorp fund the Arkadelphia Promise. The goal of the Arkadelphia Promise is to increase the college-going rate for local students, reduce the number of students dropping out of college for financial reasons and provide for a more educated workforce.

For more information about the Arkadelphia Promise, contact Jason Jones at 210-1271 or jjones@arkadelphiapromise.com.

The post AHS class of 2011 college retention rates above state, national averages first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

The Arkadelphia Promise is nearing the completion of its freshman year, and the numbers indicate favorable returns. The scholarship program, which helps high school graduates pay for college and advanced training certificates, had a 90 percent retention rate among first-semester participants.

“We think that’s pretty good,” said Jason Jones, executive director of the Arkadelphia Promise. “The big tell-tale will be in the fall.”

The first-year class started with 91 of its 123 high school graduates opting to attend college, about 74 percent. The year before the local promise, about 62 percent of the Arkadelphia High class of 2010 attended college in the fall.

Increased enrollment in the Arkadelphia School District accompanied the program’s launch. After dropping 18 percent during the previous 15 years, enrollment in fall 2011 was up 1.9 percent.

“If you take that trend into account, we would’ve seen a 2 percent decline last year,” Jones said. “In that respect, it’s a 4 percent swing. There are lots of factors to enrollment going up or down, but the Arkadelphia Promise has had a positive effect.”

The program is modeled after the El Dorado Promise launched in January 2007 with a $50 million endowment from Murphy Oil Corp. In Arkadelphia, two local charities stepped up to make 50-50 funding commitments

to support 15 years of scholarships for high school graduates.

Phil Baldwin, former CEO of Southern Bancorp Inc., and Ross Whipple, chairman of The Ross Foundation “were instrumental folks to make that happen,” said Dr. Wesley Kluck, co-chairman of the Clark County Strategic Plan. “This was every nonprofit’s dream of making a life-changing impact on their communities. This was one of those rare opportunities.”

Scholarships through the Arkadelphia Promise have a maximum value equal to the highest tuition and mandatory fees at an Arkansas public college or university when combined with

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery money. In 2011-12, that combined maximum was $7,174.

The qualifications for lottery scholarship and the Arkadelphia Promise are identical: High school graduates must achieve a 2.5 high school GPA or 19-plus ACT score or equivalent.

Participants must maintain a 2.75 cumulative GPA and complete 27 semester hours the first academic year and 30 semester hours each year thereafter.

An added boost to the Arkadelphia Promise is a college preparatory class designed to help at-risk ninth- through 12th-graders improve their ACT scores and avoid remedial classes.

The charter class of this program will be graduating next month, and supporters hope the improved ACT scores of four to six points among nearly all the participants will result in even more college graduates.

“Our work on it has now drawn the interest of people in other communities,” Kluck said.

Civic leaders in other parts of the state have visited with Arkadelphia officials in hopes of replicating the program.

The post Arkadelphia Promise Achieves 90 Percent Retention with Freshman Class first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

For more information about the Arkadelphia Promise, contact Jason Jones at 210-1271 or jjones@arkadelphiapromise.com.

The post Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship Application for 2012 Seniors Available first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

The inaugural class of the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship qualifiers signed letters of commitment at the school’s first Academic Signing Day ceremony.  More than 115 seniors made the commitment to a higher education in front of their parents, AHS student body, faculty and staff to Arkansas colleges and universities including University of Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas, Arkansas State University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University and ITT Technical College.

“Don’t forget the opportunity you have before you,” encouraged Governor Mike Beebe, “Thank the people that have provided you this opportunity by getting a degree (college) and making something of yourself and making a better America.”

Announced on November 16, 2010, the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship pays the difference, or gap, between the dollar amount of the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship and the amount of the highest tuition and mandatory fees charged by an Arkansas public college or university. The Arkadelphia Promise can be used to help pay tuition and mandatory fees at any accredited two-year or four-year public or private college or university in the United States. The Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship is funded by Southern Bancorp and Ross Foundation of Arkadelphia and is only available to graduates of Arkadelphia High School.

Congressman Mike Ross reminded students, “The decision to go to college is the most important decision you will make in your lifetime.  Graduating seniors across the nation envy what you have here in Arkadelphia.  You represent the best and brightest of America and the state of Arkansas.”

All students enrolled in the Arkadelphia Public School District in kindergarten through 12th grade as of Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010, and who graduate from Arkadelphia High School will receive 100 percent of the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship, regardless of the date of original enrollment in the District.  For students who enroll in the Arkadelphia Public School District after Nov. 16, 2010, scholarship amounts will be paid based on length of attendance in the district.

Arkadelphia Promise Executive Director Jason Jones noted that while they are still calculating final numbers, the response to the Arkadelphia Promise has been overwhelming.  “Students and parents in Arkadelphia realize that a college education is not just a dream, but a reality,” said Jones.  “This commitment is a reflection of the value placed on education in our community.”

Eligibility information for School Choice enrollment in the Arkadelphia School District may be obtained at the Administration Building at 235 N. 11th Street or by calling 870-246-1100.  The deadline to apply is June 30.

Additional information about the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship and the Arkadelphia School District is available at www.arkadelphiapromise.com and www.arkadelphiaschools.org.

The post Governor Beebe and Congressman Ross in Arkadelphia for Promise Signing first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.

“We are thrilled that Gov. Beebe and Congressman Ross are going to be with us to celebrate our inaugural class of recipients of the Arkadelphia Promise,” said Jason Jones, Executive Director of the Arkadelphia Promise.  “This event is designed to spotlight our seniors and their academic efforts along with emphasizing our organization’s desire to help our students pay for college.”

The goal of the Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship is to increase the college-going rate for local students, reduce the number of students dropping out of college for financial reasons and provide for a more educated workforce.  This scholarship program is being funded by Southern Bancorp and the Ross Foundation, both headquartered in Arkadelphia.

Click here to download a PDF version of this press release.

The post Gov. Mike Beebe and Congressman Mike Ross to Speak to Arkadelphia Students first appeared on Arkadelphia Promise.