THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140210
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 67 lines
When she graduated from Portsmouth's Woodrow Wilson High School in 1995, the only thing standing in the way of Katherine Shea's dream of college was money. She had rounded up some grants and scholarship dollars, but still came up short.
That's where the Tidewater Scholarship Foundation and its ACCESS program stepped in. Shea, who had maintained good grades, qualified for a $1,000 ``last-dollar'' award from ACCESS - more than enough to pay her way into Virginia Wesleyan College.
``I was short $500, and the last-dollars provided that, plus I was able to buy all of my books,'' Shea, now a sophomore at the college, said Monday. ``If you start off in debt you can end up in a world of hurt. Because of the last-dollar grant, I was able to start with a clean slate on a level field.''
That's music to the ears of ACCESS officials. And they hope those last-dollar awards - money for deserving students who have exhausted all other sources for aid - are always there.
To that end, the foundation on Monday announced a campaign to raise $1 million to establish a permanent endowment for last-dollar awards. If its goal is met, the foundation will receive a $1 million ``challenge'' grant pledged by a donor last year. The donor, who requested anonymity, also gave another $1 million up front.
If the drive is successful, the foundation will have more than $3 million in the endowment.
``This would put some security underneath all those promises,'' ACCESS board president Thomas G. Johnson said, referring to the foundation's pledge to make college a reality for students with financial needs who graduate from high school in Norfolk and Portsmouth.
Johnson said increasing the endowment also might enable the foundation to expand the program into other school districts in South Hampton Roads.
High school students who maintain a C-plus overall grade point average, remain drug-free and attend 90 percent of their classes are eligible for up to $1,000 in last dollars. They can receive up to $500 in last-dollar funds each year while in college if they maintain a C average.
``It would be terrible for someone to get halfway through college and not be able to finish because they lack a few hundred dollars,'' said Anne B. Shumadine, who chairs the foundation's campaign committee.
ACCESS recruits students beginning in ninth grade. Currently, about 53 percent of ninth-graders in Portsmouth and Norfolk participate.
Since its start in 1988, ACCESS has made more than 1,200 last-dollar awards worth $1.1 million, said Gerald L. Cooper, executive director of ACCESS. In addition, ACCESS advisers stationed in the two cities' high schools have helped 8,900 students through the maze of applying for financial aid, and helped about 6,000 land more than $32 million in aid.
ACCESS continues to grow in importance as the cost of college escalates, creating financial burdens even for middle-class families, Johnson said. He referred to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal that reported tuition at public four-year colleges had increased by 256 percent while income in a typical family had risen by only 93 percent during the 15-year period from 1980 to 1995. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
TO DONATE
Individuals, businesses or corporations interested in making
pledges or donations to ACCESS' $1 million endowment campaign may
call the Tidewater Scholarship Foundation at 441-2867 for more
information.
KEYWORDS: ACCESS SCHOLARSHIP