GRAND RAPIDS — Grand Rapids Community Foundation is expanding its Challenge Scholars program to include every graduating student at Union High School.
The program offers two years of tuition-free college at Grand Rapids Community College to students who attend Union for four years and have a GPA of 2.0 or higher. Students are also offered support through professional development and career coordinators.
Previously, only students who had attended Westwood Middle School and Harrison Park prior to arriving at Union were eligible to participate.
“We didn’t want to create an inequitable situation, where some students were college-bound and others were not,” said Diana Sieger, president of the Community Foundation.
This expansion comes after raising $33 million via the organization’s Rise With Us campaign. The new eligibility will begin with the Union High School class of 2020.
“We are sure that this expansion of the program will not only be a benefit to the students
seeking an education after high school, but to the community as a whole,” Sieger said.
