Cornell University and Hamilton College are among the schools Say Yes to Education Inc. on Sept. 18 announced that 11 additional private colleges and universities have joined the organization’s Higher Education Compact, which offers free tuition to eligible students. Say Yes to Education, headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization dedicated […]
Cornell University and Hamilton College are among the schools
Say Yes to Education Inc. on Sept. 18 announced that 11 additional private colleges and universities have joined the organization’s Higher Education Compact, which offers free tuition to eligible students.
Say Yes to Education, headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing high school and college graduation rates for students in urban school districts, including Syracuse.
The program is available to all public-school students in Syracuse, the office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) said in a news release.
The 11 schools bring to 54 the total number involved in the Say Yes Higher Education Compact.
George Weiss, the money manager who founded Say Yes to Education 26 years ago, made the announcement on Capitol Hill. Gillibrand, who supports the program, joined Weiss for the announcement.
The 11 new institutions include Cornell University, Hamilton College, and Paul Smith’s College: The College of the Adirondacks in New York; Dartmouth College in New Hampshire; Princeton University in New Jersey; Rice University in Texas; Pomona College in California; Denison University in Ohio; and Rhodes College, Sewanee: The University of the South, and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.
Say Yes To Education has always been about “hope,” Weiss said in the news release from Gillibrand’s office.
“By standing with Say Yes, what these private colleges and universities are saying is that our students will have the same opportunities as anyone else in this wonderful country of ours,” Weiss said.
“Partnering with Say Yes enables us to make our generous need-based financial aid policies and strong academic programs visible to students in some of the nation’s lowest-income school districts who might otherwise be unaware of their opportunities to enroll at Cornell or similar schools,” Barbara Knuth, associate provost of Cornell University, said in the news release.
Say Yes to Education, which serves nearly 65,000 children in kindergarten through 12th grade, has been working with the Syracuse City School District since 2008.
The organization expects to expand to additional U.S. cities in the coming years, according to Gillibrand’s office.
Graduates of the Syracuse’s four public high schools are eligible for up to 100 percent of the tuition needed to attend any public, two- or four-year college or university in New York to which they are accepted.
Individuals, families, foundations, and businesses help to fund the scholarships for Syracuse school students, Gillibrand’s office said.
Students in the Buffalo school district are also eligible for the program.
Additionally, the private colleges and universities in the Say Yes Higher Education Compact — including Syracuse University, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and the University of Notre Dame — typically promise full tuition to accepted Say Yes scholars whose annual family income is at or below $75,000, according to Gillibrand’s office.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com