A program that gained national attention in 1991 for offering to pay college tuition for 69 second-graders is closing its doors in Cambridge on Friday.

The local “Say Yes to Education” program is coming to an end because the last of the original 69 students just graduated with a doctoral degree in pharmacy.

The program, funded in part by millionaire philanthropist and Boston native George Weiss, tracked the students from second grade through graduation — and then paid for their college tuition. Participants were chosen for their multicultural and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

“I’d venture to say it’s my most successful program,” Weiss said in a phone interview Thursday.

Of the original 69 students, all but seven got their high school diplomas or GEDs, and more than half are now college graduates, said Anne Larkin, program director and a Lesley University professor.

Other “Say Yes to Education” programs are still operating in Philadelphia — the original site where the program was offered — as well as New York and Hartford, Conn.

Lesley University has been integral in helping the students reach their goals, providing free use of its facilities in Cambridge and other resources, Larkin said.

The program offered tutoring, before- and after-school programs, and summer camps among other resources including covering the eventual college tuition of 35 students. For all of his programs the price tag has been more than $35 million, Weiss said.

In addition to funding from Weiss, the programs rely on donations from individuals and sponsor families.

One of the beneficiaries, Steven Soares, remembers the day that Weiss spoke to his second-grade class in Cambridge.

“Back then the reaction was small,” he said. “The magnitude of what I just got never really sank in.”

Now, Soares is 26, and living in New Hampshire pursuing a job he’s wanted since he was a boy, when he watched airplanes take off and land at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

“I’ve always wanted to be an air traffic controller,” he said. “The ability to be who I am today — I would never have been able to achieve that.”

Other students went on to schools like the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania — Weiss’s alma mater. About 57 percent have completed a post-secondary education. Michael Barros went the furthest in his education, getting his doctorate in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Now Barros looks forward to helping younger students reach college as well.

“It makes you want to give a lot back,” he said.

That’s just what Weiss, Larkin and the “Say Yes” team hoped for. They have even established a nationwide alumni network.

“God gave me this ability to make money in the markets, and I feel an obligation to help the less fortunate,” said Weiss, the president of the Hartford, Conn.-based money management George Weiss Associates Inc. “I want to level the playing field.”

When his students call him on the 800 number set aside for them, Weiss sounds like a proud father telling them that the close of the program is not the end.

“They’re part of my family, my extended family,” he said. “Family doesn’t end.”

AP

But those costs have sparked outrage from an education outreach organization that believes a free education should be offered at — just that — no cost.

Just Children, a grassroots advocacy agency in conjunction with the Legal Aid Justice Center, submitted a report to the Virginia Department of Education last month questioning the state’s policy on fees that public schools charge for courses and materials.

“Facing inadequate resources, tapped out local governments, and the inability to raise revenue themselves, school systems have been forced to get creative, turning to an alternative source of direct revenue: their students,” the report states.

That Just Children report sparked interest and now education officials want Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy Cannaday to send a memo to schools asking that the Virginia Board of Education modify its policy regarding fees by the start of the 2008-09 school year.

Just Children encourages state and national leaders with the power to do so to improve conditions for the commonwealth’s children.

“To many of us, these fees may seem insignificant,” the report continues. “Indeed, many families likely regard the high quality educational experience provided by many Virginia schools to be well worth the price in fees. But to many families living at or near poverty, school fees can be a substantial burden.”

Therefore, the VDOE mailed surveys to its 83 school districts. Of that, 64 reported that they charge fees.

In Culpeper, students pay for yearbooks, agenda/planners, art/instructional materials, gym fees, parking, behind-the-wheel courses, athletic dues, after school activities and field trips.

CCPS Superintendent David Cox said Culpeper charges user fees as allowed.

“As the state survey reveals, we are very comparable with many school divisions in the commonwealth regarding our overall fee practices,” Cox said.

Fifty-one schools reported that they have policies regarding fees and charges, 20 of them said they have implemented some sort of financial hardship regulations. Fifteen reported that they have a policy that addresses payment schedules and unpaid fees and charges.

According to the Just Children report, Loudoun County Public Schools is the only district that reported no fees.

According to CCPS, not everyone has to pay. The Culpeper school system states its commitment to provide a “free and appropriate” educational experience for all students, according to its Web site.

“Students and/or parents who require financial assistance with student fees, fines, and charges should inform the school administration, guidance staff, or teaching staff of their economic need,” the Web site states. “Any request will be dealt with confidentially and consideration provided. Parent requests are handled on a case-by-case basis. Individual pay plans will be developed based on ability to pay.”

The Virginia Constitution states that the General Assembly must provide a free education to all school-aged children in the commonwealth.

Susan Gronbeck-Tedesco, director of the Office of Study Abroad, said the weak dollar had caused a noticeable decline in study abroad interest.

“Summer 2008 enrollment is up just 0.6 percent over summer 2007. Normally, we would expect a greater increase.”

According to the KU Office of Study Abroad, participation in the program grew at an average of 8 percent each year from 2004 to 2007.

While the basic cost of enrollment in study abroad programs has not changed drastically, the dollar’s weak exchange rate has raised the cost of overseas goods in comparison to domestic items. As of Monday, one euro was worth $1.56, meaning the dollar has depreciated by about 20 cents in the past year.

Jordan Kallas, a 2008 graduate who studied abroad in Australia last year, said the cost of food made his trip more expensive than expected.

“I’m still recovering from the trip, and it was a year ago,” Kallas said.

John Keating, professor of economics, said that the exchange rate usually levels out in the long-run, but could be unpredictable in the near future — a bad sign for students planning summer or fall travel.

“When the value of the dollar goes down your dollars aren’t going to buy as much foreign currency,” Keating said. “The consequence is a much bigger cost of living. It’s got to be painful to go overseas right now.”

In a national poll conducted last spring by the Institute of International Education, 43 percent of students said they had changed their travel plans because of the weakening dollar. Institute president Allen Goodman said studying abroad could be affordable if students altered their approach.

“Students should look for destinations like India or Southeast Asia, where their dollar will go further,” Goodman said. “There are a lot of ways to make it work.”

Because of students like Kallas, who said his trip was worth the financial strain, studying abroad — expensive as it may be — has not gone out of style. According to the Institute of International Education, more than 2,000 students from the state of Kansas studied abroad last year.

College students Kerry Evans, Travis Gunther and Brittany Shachmut, all of Conway, and Lauren Daly of St. Louis plan to attend WYD events, although their travel plans and partners vary. However, their reason for attending is the same — to learn about their faith and grow spiritually.

“This trip will be a unique experience of modern pilgrimage,” Evans said. “It will be interesting to be there with so many other Catholics.”

According to the 2008 World Youth Day Web site, the event was “established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 as an annual event to reach out to the youth of the world.”

For these four students, their trips to WYD will be a way to live their faith and experience Christ with fellow Catholics from across the globe. In addition, three of the students will be gaining college credit for their endeavor.

Evans, Daly and Shachmut all attend Hendrix College in Conway. As part of their requirements for graduation, Hendrix students participate in what Hendrix calls “experiential learning” through the Odyssey program.

Dr. Mark Schantz, Odyssey program director, said students are required to participate in three Odyssey experiences from six categories in order to graduate. He said more and more students are developing projects that take them around the world.

“I think the Odyssey program has opened up the globe to students in a way they didn’t have before,” he said.

In the case of Evans and Daly, the duo will develop a video documentary from their trip.

“We will look at how people from various countries practice their faith and how being a universal Church affects that,” Evans said.

Daly said the idea of turning their trip into an Odyssey project took a while to develop.

“We started out with the idea for making a scrapbook and photo journal, but it slowly evolved into a documentary,” Daly said. “We want to gain insights into other pilgrim’s faiths, practices and traditions. We hope to include the interviews, as well as other footage from the trip into our film.”

Schantz said often students will provide a campus-wide presentation, but it is not always a requirement of their projects.

With round-trip air tickets priced in the thousands of dollars, these students sought funding from the college. Evans and Daly were awarded more than $1,000 in financial support from Hendrix for this project.

Shachmut, who will be a senior this fall and just returned from a five-month study abroad program in Mexico, is also participating in the Odyssey program through her trip to WYD.

Her project includes keeping a journal and log of her trip. Shachmut said her project will focus on the universal aspect of the Church and how many cultures practice one faith.

She said she plans to give a presentation to students in the Catholic Campus Ministry in Conway this fall.

“I hope to reestablish my Catholic faith on this trip,” she said. “I’ve been involved in youth groups, but I hope the enthusiasm from others is something I can bring back home.”

She also received funding from Hendrix to attend WYD.

“If I had not received funding which paid for the majority of the plane ticket,” she said, “I would not be able to attend.”

For Gunther, WYD will be an extension of the discernment process.

Gunther, who just completed his sophomore year as an architecture major at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, will be traveling to Australia with the Salesians.

Gunther said in an e-mail response, “Currently I am discerning with the Benedictines to see if my vocation is with them or the Salesians.”

He said he plans to volunteer with the Salesians this coming school year.

“I will work with the Salesians ministering to the large immigrant population in Port Chester, N.Y., live with the community and meet regularly with a spiritual director,” he said. “My goal is to immerse myself in the day-to-day life of a Salesian, ministering to poor youth, so I will not be in the seminary.”

For Gunther, his trip to WYD is truly a pilgrimage, following the path God has set before him.

“I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the ‘universal’ meaning of catholic, a better idea of just how beautiful and challenging it is to be a part of Christ’s body and grow more in love with Christ,” he said. “Without a doubt, Christ will throw a few surprises in along the way.”

All four said they plan to spend some of their trip sightseeing and taking in the Australian culture.

This is the first time WYD has been held in Australia. The actual World Youth Day is July 20, but there is a week-long series of events that culminates with a final Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI. This year’s Mass will be held at Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park in Sydney.

An event of this size in not held every year, but every few years an international celebration is planned. The United States hosted WYD in Denver, Colo. in 1993. The last WYD celebration was held in Cologne, Germany, in 2005.

The WYD 2008 Web site estimates that 225,000 people will attend the events including 100,000 from Australia.

Recipients for 2008 include:

• Kaela De Bruin, a 2008 graduate of Pella Christian High School, will be attending Trinity Christian College in Illinois to pursue a degree in nursing. She is the daughter of Randy and Elizabeth DeBruin.

• Sophie Metcalf, a 2008 graduate of Pella Community High School, will be attending University of Iowa to pursue a bachelor of science in nursing degree and become a pediatric nurse practitioner. She has worked as a certified nursing assistant at Pella Regional. She is the daughter of Brian and Lisa Metcalf.

• Amy Van Hal, has been attending Trinity Christian College for one year, working toward her bachelor of science in nursing degree. She is working as a certified nursing assistant at Pella Regional for the summer. She also received this scholarship in 2007. She is the daughter of Arvin and Brenda Van Hal.

• Karissa Van Kooten, has been attending Trinity Christian College for one year, working toward her bachelor of science in nursing degree. She has worked as a certified nursing assistant at Pella Regional during summers since 2005. She also received this scholarship in 2007. She is the daughter of Leland and Darla Van Kooten.

The Mary Evers Scholarship was created in 1966 to honor Mary Evers, who died in an auto accident while she was in nursing school. It was her dream to become a nurse. Through the Mary Evers Scholarship more than 100 nursing students have received funds to help pursue their dream of becoming a nurse.

On the net:
The Oskaloosa Herald

South Carolina is experiencing a serious nursing shortage due to the retirement of a large number of nurses and the inability of state nursing education programs to expand enrollments sufficiently to meet demand. Colleges and universities currently must limit enrollments based on faculty-to-student ratios required by the South Carolina Board of Nursing (8-10 students per faculty member). Faculty are required to hold higher degrees — a minimum of a master’s degree in associate degree programs and a doctoral degree in baccalaureate and graduate programs.

“The rate of new graduate degrees for the preparation of nurses for faculty roles has not kept up with faculty retirements,” said Foundation Executive Director Harvey Galloway. “We hope our new scholarship will entice some who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford higher education to pursue a graduate degree and go on to teach others.

The grant will be administered by the South Carolina Nurses Foundation (SCNF), a nonprofit established in 1974 to advance the nursing profession through scholarships, awards and programs of excellence.

“This grant will make a significant impact in meeting prospective faculty requirements in our state,” said Renatta S. Loquist, SCNF past president who solicited the grant. “We are grateful to the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation for their vision and commitment to the health of the citizens of our great state. We hope to sustain the project beyond this grant amount by adding other partners who will invest in creating a thriving nursing education system.”

By immediately addressing the faculty shortage, the future 30 higher education graduates can begin to fill existing vacant faculty positions and provide additional slots for student enrollment. For every one new faculty member hired, a nursing program can accommodate up to eight additional students in a clinical course.

“It is compelling that we have stimulated interest in nursing as a career, and nursing programs in the state are turning away qualified applicants,” said Dr. Gail Stuart, dean and professor in the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing. “The problem now is attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of nurse faculty to sustain and grow nursing school enrollment. This program will be a tremendous stimulus to ensure a strong cohort of nurse educators.”

“We are grateful for this commitment by the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation,” said Rosanne Pruitt, Ph.D., RN and Clemson University director of the School of Nursing and associate dean, College of Health Education and Human Development. “This is a much needed resource to prepare nurses for the faculty role. Preparation of the future nursing workforce has important health implications for all South Carolinians.”

Dr. Peggy Hewlett, dean of the USC College of Nursing, said, “Securing substantial scholarships for our graduate nursing students at both the master’s and doctoral levels is one of our greatest challenges. This generous gift from the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation will provide an opportunity for nursing scholars to attend school full-time and in so doing, graduate more quickly into the teaching ranks.”

South Carolina has 24 undergraduate RN programs, three master’s programs and two doctoral programs in nursing. Clemson University’s new interdisciplinary Ph.D. in healthcare genetics also has an option for nurses to prepare for the academic role. In 2007, there were 44 faculty vacancies, with an additional 72 faculty expected to retire within five years.

The scholarships will be made available to in-state or out-of-state students accepted to or already enrolled in nursing graduate programs at the University of South Carolina, Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina, with each university receiving equal amount scholarship funds. Scholarship recipients will be required to sign a contract that commits them to teach in a South Carolina state-approved nursing program for at least three years. Scholarship applicants may apply through their universities.

Headquartered in Columbia, the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation (www.bcbsscfoundation.org) is a philanthropic affiliate of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. It was created to identify and help solve South Carolinians’ health problems, with special emphasis on access, affordability and quality of health care. The BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

SOURCE:
PRNewswire-USNewswire
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

Western Governors University now offers a Bachelor of Science in Health Informatics. This online degree combines healthcare with information technology, giving a graduate the knowledge and skills needed to design, develop, and operate health information systems.

The online health informatics degree program’s core components provide a rigorous knowledge base in IT fundamentals, IT management and healthcare. Two industry-recognized IT certifications are included as part of this degree program at no extra cost. They are CompTIA A+ IT Technician and CIW v5 Database Design Specialist.

This online degree is designed for those who may already be in the healthcare profession seeking to develop health informatics and technology skills or for those who are already in information technology and who are seeking knowledge of the healthcare field. This program was created to bridge the gap between healthcare and information technology by building competencies in both areas.

Students who already have knowledge or associate’s degrees in either area may be able to accelerate their progress and can possibly complete their degree in two to three years. Expected time to completion for students with little or no college experience is four to five years.

Tuition is very affordable at $2,790 per 6-month term or just $5,580 per year. (Tuition will become $2,890 effective 9/1/2008.) This is less than half of what other reputable online universities typically charge. A scholarship of $2,500, applicable at $500 per term for up to five terms, is available to qualified applicants. Enrollments are open continuously and new cohorts begin each month.

For more information, go to www.wgu.edu/healthinfo or call 1-888-225-5948.

Contact for media inquiries: Gwen Castaldi Director of Public Relations 801-290-3600 gcastaldi@wgu.edu Contact for enrollment information: 866-225-5948

SOURCE: Western Governors University, MARKET WIRE, redOrbit