EducationQuest Awards Grants to 22 High Schools

EducationQuest Foundation
NEWS RELEASE

Funds will help increase college-going rate

(LINCOLN, Nebraska, September 22, 2014) – EducationQuest Foundation has selected 22 Nebraska high schools as recipients of College Access Grants – a program designed to increase the number of students who go to college. The high schools will share $670,000 in grant funds over the next four years. The amount each school receives is based on enrollment.

Lincoln High School, Lincoln Southeast High School, Omaha North Magnet High School, and Omaha South Magnet High School will each receive $20,000 a year for four years.

Columbus High School, Norfolk Senior High School and Omaha Benson High School will each receive $10,000 a year for four years.

Crete High School will receive $7,500 a year for four years.

Central City High School, David City High School, Logan View Public School, North Bend Central High School, Raymond Central High School, and West Point-Beemer High School will each receive $5,000 a year for four years.

Bancroft Rosalie Community School, Blue Hill High School, Diller-Odell Secondary School, Garden County High School, Harvard High School, Kenesaw High School, Santee High School, and Weeping Water High School will each receive $2,500 a year for four years.

The high schools use the grants to fund programs and activities such as college visits, financial aid sessions, scholarship searches, career exploration, ACT test preparation, and completion of college applications. The grant program also promotes involvement with families and businesses to help ensure the program’s success.

Eric Drumheller, EducationQuest Assistant Vice President of Grants and Scholarships, said the recipient schools have set goals to increase their college-going rates by approximately 10 percentage points over the next four years.

EducationQuest awards College Access Grants to Nebraska high schools every two years. Eighty-one grants have been awarded since the program began in 2006.

In 2016, EducationQuest will select additional Nebraska high schools to receive College Access Grants funding.

EducationQuest Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization with a mission to improve access to higher education in Nebraska.  Headquartered in Lincoln, EducationQuest provides free college planning services, need-based scholarship programs, grants that help high schools increase their college-going rate, and outreach services for community agencies statewide. For more information, call 800.303.3745 or visit EducationQuest.org.