The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Class stunned with full ride to college
Erika Valadez is finishing up her freshman year at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, a prospect she said would not have been possible without the generosity of a local family.
In 2012, the Rosztoczy Foundation — a private family organization based in Avondale, Ariz., — promised Valadez and 83 other third-graders a full scholarship to college.
Although Valadez, 19, could have applied for student loans, grants and scholarships that would have made higher education more accessible, “I think I would have taken a few gap years to try to earn some money,” she said. Now, “I won’t graduate with over $100,000 in debt.”
As a third-grader, Valadez couldn’t comprehend the gravity of the gift, but as she reached high school and was able to focus on her classes without worrying about money for college, she realized that “it’s a really big opportunity.”
“It impacts not only you, but everyone around you,” she said, adding that her family wasn’t in a financial situation to fund her university studies.
Ten years after the Rosztoczy Foundation made its first grant, another group of 63 third-graders in Phoenix was surprised with the same promise: a full ride to college, including tuition and room and board.
The entire third grade class at Bernard Black Elementary School congregated with their parents for what they thought would be a standard assembly on a recent Monday evening.
Quintin Boyce, the Roosevelt School District superintendent, broke the news that all of the students in third grade at the school would have their college
expenses covered. At first, parents were in disbelief, but once the initial shock dissipated, nearly every parent broke down in tears of joy.
“There wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” Boyce said of the assembly on April 25. “It was a really precious moment. In my 20 years in education, it was one of the most memorable — if not the most memorable — experience I’ve had.”
The surprise announcement had a profound impact on parents, many of whom said they could not fathom saving enough money to send their kids to college. About 90% of the school district qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches, the superintendent said.
The average cost of a college education in the United States is $35,331 per year, according to the Education Data Initiative, though the cost varies depending on whether the school is in state or out of state, private or public.
Citing that and other reasons, parents at Bernard Black Elementary School were grateful for the unexpected gift.
“I got very emotional,” said Evelia Castaneda, whose son,
Abisai, is a third-grader. She and her husband were overwhelmed with relief and excitement.
Knowing he has a full ride to college, Abisai already has a goal in mind: “I want to become a doctor,” he said.
The Rosztoczy Foundation was founded in 2005 by the late
Ferenc E. Rosztoczy, a Hungarian-born chemist who built several successful businesses after moving to the United States in 1957. His aim was to provide scholarship opportunities to Hungarian students to study in America.
In 2012, he introduced the College Promise program, which works to send groups of local students who live in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas to college.
That year, the foundation offered to send 84 third-graders at Michael Anderson School in Avondale to college. Of them, 67 students graduated from the local high school district last year, and so far, 34 are enrolled in college. Students have five years to use their eligibility.
“When we felt like we had success as they were graduating last year, we decided we want to do more of this,” said Ferenc Rosztoczy’s son, Tom Rosztoczy, who now runs the foundation with his mother and brother. “We spent some time trying to see if it had made a difference, and we felt like it had.”
He said their goal is to eventually award the scholarships to two elementary schools a year, adding that the offer will be extended to another group of third-graders next month.
The decision to grant the scholarships to students in third grade is based on research they’d done.
“We wanted to start young enough so that the kids and the parents would change how they thought about education,” Rosztoczy said.
To maintain the full scholarship, students must graduate from the local public high school district, maintain a grade-point average of 2.0 or higher in college and earn at least 12 credits per semester.