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Students at a Paying for College Bus Tour stop, Reading, PA

$100,000 grant from The Sallie Mae Fund opens doors of elite colleges for deserving black scholars from public charter schools in Washington, D.C.

RESTON, Va., May 18, 2006—A $100,000 grant from The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, to Washington Metropolitan Scholars is helping high-achieving, African-American students from the Washington metropolitan area attend elite colleges and universities this year. Ten students from Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall Academy, Hyde Leadership, Marriott Hospitality, and SEED public charter schools were named Washington Metropolitan Scholars at Monday night's awards gala at the Willard InterContinental Hotel. All will receive grants of $10,000.

The Sallie Mae Fund's grant is being used to send scholars to universities including American University, Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, and Grinnell College, among others. All told, Washington Metropolitan Scholars (WMS) will create scholarship aid for this year's scholars worth more than $10 million, opening the doors of elite universities to African-American students who otherwise might not have applied because of daunting costs. More than 12 percent of all African-American freshmen who entered Ivy League colleges and universities last year were WMS All-Met Scholars.

Developed in 2003 by a former educator, Avis C. Robinson, WMS partners with 41 leading colleges and universities—including all the Ivy League schools, the Seven Sisters colleges, and independent institutions such as Vanderbilt and M.I.T. The colleges provide full scholarships to WMS "All-Met" scholars with financial need, in exchange for relatively small, matching-funds grants from WMS. This year, the universities were so impressed with the WMS students—nominated by Washington-area high school principals and selected through a competition—that most offered admission and scholarships to far more students than they had anticipated.

WMS accomplishes its mission with minimal administrative costs—no full-time paid staff—and does not charge any fee to the students or the colleges, relying instead on contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals who share The Sallie Mae Fun's deep commitment to community involvement and education.

"The Metropolitan Scholars Program and The Sallie Mae Fund are united around a common purpose—increasing access to higher education," said Kathleen deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae Fund. "Innovative programs like Metropolitan Scholars support our goal of helping more lower-income and minority students realize their higher education dreams."

The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission—to increase access to a post–secondary education for America's students—by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, prepare families for their investment, and bridge the gap when no one else can. For more information visit www.salliemaefund.org.