Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993 TAG: 9309020464
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
These figures are approximate and on the low side, according to high school guidance counselors.
Counselors get some reports from students, most of whom are proud of the scholarships they have won.
But some don't reveal their financial assistance because some aid is based on income, which most families want to keep private.
Also, some scholarship awards are not made until well into the summer, and students never report them to the high schools.
Known figures indicate that almost half of June's graduates are entering college with scholarships or other type of financial aid.
This is based on surveys of guidance counselors at the 14 public, private and parochial high schools in Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke, Botetourt and Craig counties.
Those schools graduated 2,383 seniors in June. About 1,140 - or 48 percent - are entering college with either partial or full financial assistance.
But guidance counselors estimate that several hundred others are entering college at their own expense - either from their own resources or with loans from banks or other "angels."
Figures vary each year depending on the size and number of scholarships won by seniors.
But based on this year's figures, the school system capturing the most in scholarships was Roanoke County, which also has the greatest number of high schools - four.
According to figures compiled by Gary Kelley, guidance counselor for the county, 747 June graduates will enter colleges with a total of $3.4 million in scholarships or other financial aid.
Roanoke was second, with scholarships totaling more than $1 million for graduates from its two high schools.
Those who won scholarships drew from a pool of several hundred organizations offering amounts from as little as $100 up to $40,000 or perhaps more.
Some big scholarships, academic or athletic, that go to star students pay all expenses involved with a full four-year college education.
Scholarships are offered by diverse groups - non-profit, charitable, fraternal and community groups, businesses, individuals, and often the colleges themselves.
Seniors learn of scholarship offers primarily from their high school guidance counselors, who get reports from organizations with details of their scholarship offers. Guidance counselors type these into lists to post on bulletin boards and make available to seniors looking for financial assistance.
This year, for instance, Nancy Robinson, guidance counselor at Roanoke County's Glenvar High School, put together a list of about 83 scholarship funds maintained by local organizations and those from throughout the country. Several funds offered more than 100 scholarships.
Similarly, at Lord Botetourt High School, the guidance department compiled a list of about 70 funds from local and national groups, several of which offered multiple scholarships.
Seniors at Salem High School have one advantage over seniors at the other schools - the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association, which offer seniors scholarships from 22 endowment funds, most of them local.
The funds, still growing, were worth almost $400,000 in June. Richard H. Fisher, president of the foundation, said he envisions the day when the fund is worth perhaps $20 million.
In the past 10 years, more than $100,000 has been awarded to about 100 Salem seniors, Fisher said.
In the school year just ended, $24,500 was awarded to 20 seniors at Salem High.
Many of the endowment funds were begun to honor former Salem students, teachers and other school personnel. But several were established and are now supported by the the city and school-related organizations, including the School Board.
Money for the endowment funds is solicited from any source, the largest being former students.
A big asset in that direction, one of which Fisher is proud, is a Salem school alumni directory listing names and current addresses of 11,651 former Salem students.
They are graduates of the current Salem High School, and earlier Salem High, the former Andrew Lewis and George Washington Carver high schools and the former Roanoke County Training School, which operated in Salem between 1921 and 1940.
Fisher said he expects other funds to be endowed and that the foundation would continue to seek donations to them so more and larger scholarships can be offered.
While many scholarships are available, some go begging. The sponsors can't find qualified students.
There are various reasons for this, guidance counselors said.
Some scholarships have special rules, such as requiring recipients to attend a particular school or to major in a particular subject.
Some students don't apply for scholarships even though they may be qualified and perhaps stand a good chance of winning.
by CNB