Two hundred and eighty-six students of the CHS class of 2025 were invited to attend a surprise event in mid-December. With families in attendance, the seniors were presented with personalized QR codes that linked them to scholarship offers from more than thirty universities around the United States. Students were presented with combined total scholarship offers of $414 million in awards through a partnership with VU Scholarships.
According to Kathryn Wells, Lead Secondary Counselor, Celina High School is the first Texas high school to partner with VU Scholarships. The organization exists to encourage and guide high school students toward early college scholarship possibilities. Based on seniors’ class rank and GPA, VU matches scholarship awards to bring high school students college scholarships early to encourage, support, and guide them toward a future they may not know exists.
Ms. Wells said “Some students may have not yet considered going to college and then received offers of admission and scholarships. It was exciting to see families celebrating and reconsidering post-secondary education. These students are wanted and special enough to receive offers, and it was touching and life-changing”.
VU Scholarships launched in 2015 led by Edward Marquez who saw how athletic students are pursued by college recruiters and wanted to create the same model for academics. His career goal is to help students dream bigger and build systems that equip students to develop their dreams into reality. By exposing students to college scholarship possibilities early, they may recognize their potential and value and have a new point of view about their future.
Because of the VU way of receiving scholarships first, it allows students to think about the new opportunities available to them and encourages them to think outside of what is currently known to them. Similarly, CHS students now have the opportunity to review every offer and if they choose, apply to the schools. More than 8,800 scholarships were presented and have opened the door for these students to dream big.
What students had to say about their experience with the VU and Celina High School partnership:
Rachelle: I saw many opportunities that I could now think about, and it was so surprising to see all the scholarship offers, and now it has me thinking “Maybe I do have a chance." It encouraged me to stay more focused in class and get my grades up. I got many offers, and, after the event, it made me want to study more and possibly get more offers. The event really surprised me, and I truly didn’t think I was going to get the offers like my friends would. When I saw my total offers of $928,112, I was so shocked and my dad really wanted me to accept one of the offers. I am going to continue to work hard to get my grades up and work towards getting offers closer to home. My parents were so proud of me and are so grateful for the opportunities this could open for me.
Jack: I plan to earn my Associate's at Collin College and then transfer to a larger school and this made me feel recognized for the hard work that I’m doing. I think it’s a great program, and it’s going to help a lot of people! I was so surprised at some of the schools and didn’t expect to get as many as I did. It has made me look more into Texas Tech after seeing their offer.
Learn more at VUScholarships.com