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Chris Urso shares more details about the Middletown College Pledge and its goals, Page A7
Middletown City Schools Superintendent Sam Ison hopes a new service for Middletown High School students “takes away that obstacle of finances” for those interested in pursuing a college degree.
By the fall of 2015, there will be an office in the high school for representatives of Middletown College Pledge, a new service for students that will provide an on-site advising service. Ison said MHS students in grades nine through 12 are welcome to visit the MCP Future Center inside the school building for help with planning for life after high school.
MCP will help students and their families apply to colleges, fill out forms for financial assistance, grants, scholarships and guarantee those with a minimum 3.0 GPA a chance to get a higher degree, said Chris Urso, chairman of the group and a professor at the Miami University Regionals.
Ison called the partnership between the schools and the College Pledge board “another step toward meeting the needs of all of our students.”
It’s the district’s hope, he said, that every graduate thrives whether that’s getting a technical certificate, a two-year associate degrees, a four-year degree, a tour in the military or go directly into the job market.
Urso said the program will include a combination of sources – Pell Grants (when appropriate), scholarships, foundation support and an endowment, all together building a solid foundation that can guarantee at least $5,000 in the first two years of college and $7,000 during the final two years.
Those amounts will allow a student to attend Miami University Middletown, Wright State, Sinclair, Cincinnati State or Butler Tech without incurring debt, he said. Or, he said, a student can take that $5,000 and use it toward another, more expensive college. The program is open to all Middletown High School students and is not based on need, he said.
Urso called the pledge “a pragmatic solution” to a problem that confronts many families whose children need additional training and education beyond high school.
He said the program is accepting donations to the fund at the Middletown Community Foundation, and already has the support of the Middletown Area United Way and other donors.
Modeled after successful programs in Denver and Pittsburgh, the Pledge is expected to help draw families who value education to move to the city of Middletown and build their lives here, he said.
For more information, visit www.middletowncollegepledge.com or contact Chris Urso at 513-435-1442 or ursocj@miamioh.edu.
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