College program reaches out to eligible middle-schoolers

Aliha Strange, a seventh-grade aspiring novelist, gathered brochures and chatted up college recruiters from Seattle University, Eastern Washington University and University of Washington on Saturday morning. If she seemed young to be thinking about college, she didn't show it.

"I'm really into going to college," she said at the College Bound Scholarship information session. "I'm trying to find the right fit."

Her mother, Sunda Strange, said, "Moneywise, I don't have a lot to offer her" for college, but the state scholarship program has given them both hope.

The program, started last year, provides college scholarships to low-income, middle-school students after they pledge to keep a minimum-grade-point average of 2.0, graduate from high school and stay out of trouble.

"I feel like this takes a huge burden off me," said Sunda Strange, who works at an arts program. More than 700 other families woke up early to attend the 8:30 a.m. session that began with a concert by the Garfield High School drum line and speeches from Mayor Greg Nickels and Seattle School Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson.

Aliha Strange said she was looking for a college that would fit her writing and acting ambitions. A student at Orca K-7, she is working on a book about a girl living through the Holocaust. Her mother is raising Aliha and her 4-year-old brother on her own.

Started last year, the College Bound Scholarship covers tuition (based on what the University of Washington charges), fees and $500 for books. The money can be applied toward public and some private colleges in the state.

To qualify, Washington middle-school students must come from low-income families and pledge to graduate from a Washington high school and keep the minimum 2.0 grade-point average. Students also have to pledge to be a good citizen — they get kicked out of the program if they commit a felony.

Income levels depend on what the student's family makes during senior year, but organizers said the general rule of thumb is that a student who qualifies for free and reduced-price lunch at school is eligible for the scholarship. A family of four that earned $39,300 or less in 2007, for instance, would qualify.

Eligible students who take the pledge get a certificate from Gov. Chris Gregoire and a scholarship waiting for them when they graduate from high school.

The deadline to apply is June 30, and ninth-graders who don't sign up by then will not be eligible to apply in the future.

Organizers estimate 300 students applied for the scholarship on Saturday. The program is holding similar fairs in Vancouver, Tacoma, Pasco and Yakima to reach the 90,000 students who qualify in the state. More than 33,000 students have signed up.

The first students in the scholarship program will enter college in 2012. Funding comes from the state financial-need program and federal Pell grants. The state also set aside $7.5 million in 2007 to cover costs beyond those two sources, but it did not allot any new money in the budget session this year.

"This program is absolutely transformational," said Bob Craves, chief executive of the College Success Foundation, which is organizing the sessions, "because they receive scholarships in seventh and eighth grade, and we feel they are more likely to graduate from high school."

Craves, the former chair of the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board, said he hopes the program will double the number of low-income students entering and completing college.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com