Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Say Yes Guilford Wins National Contest, Spurs Federal Student Aid Applications

A celebration took place at Ragsdale High School in Sept. 2015 when officials announced that Guilford County was selected as the next Say Yes to Education community. KERI BROWN/WFDD

A Guilford County education organization has won a national contest. Say Yes Guilford will receive $75,000 for raising federal student aid application rates.

The contest is known as the FAFSA Completion Challenge. It was created after federal policy changes bumped up the application window, which starts October 1. Say Yes Guilford beat out more than 20 other big city school districts for the top prize.

Organizers say the county had the highest completion rate for students who filled out the free student aid form. They've had about a 14 percent increase since 2015. The rate for the Class of 2017 was about 66 percent.

Warché Downing with Say Yes Guilford says the results are part of a collaborative effort with community.

“For Say Yes, this was particularly very important because the FAFSA is a requirement for the student to be eligible for the Say Yes to Education Guilford scholarship,” says Downing. “And so, this is going to have a significant educational impact but also [it's] increasing the college-going culture in the communities that we serve.”

Downing says research shows that 90 percent of seniors who complete FAFSA are more likely to attend college directly from high school.

Say Yes provides scholarships for graduating seniors and other support services for students.

In March, the organization announced changes in the criteria for its scholarship program in order to sustain it long-term. Those included new income-based eligibility and requirements for how long students are enrolled in the school system.

Despite the challenges, Say Yes Guilford says the first year of the program was a big success. More than 2,400 graduates from Guilford County Schools received scholarships in the program's first year.

The numbers for the 2017 class haven't been finalized.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate