(MILWAUKEE) — The scholarships and grants offered to Milwaukee Public Schools graduates in 2023 totaled a record-setting $121 million, the district announced at its annual Scholarship Reveal event Thursday, June 15.
The jump by $14 million in 2023 represents the largest year-over-year increase in scholarships and grants since 2012, when MPS began tracking the total.
The reveal was held on the front lawn of MPS Central Services, 5225 W. Vliet Street, with several of the more than 900 scholarship and grant awardees in attendance.
One of them was Chianang Xiong, salutatorian and senior class president at James Madison Academic Campus. Xiong said she initially applied for scholarships on her own and was rejected. She worried she wouldn’t be able to afford college, but she began working with her school counselor and the staff of the MPS College and Career Center at James Madison to apply for scholarships. Ultimately, she received over $200,000 in scholarship offers.
Except for one year, the MPS scholarship and grant total for graduates has climbed steadily since 2012, when it was $18 million. The totals increased even early in the pandemic:
2013: $24 million
2014: $31 million
2015: $39 million
2016: $51 million
2017: $62 million
2018: $83 million
2019: $78 million
2020: $85 million
2021: $96 million
2022: $107 million
In addition to school counselors, the district has a scholarship coordinator and College and Career Centers, which assist all Milwaukee-area students in Grades 6 through 12 and even after graduation.
MPS now has 21 centers in schools, and also serves schools without centers, to help students with scholarship applications, college tours, resume writing, job searching, and more.
Three of the centers, at Bradley Tech High School, Milwaukee School of Languages, and Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning, will remain open over the summer.
Among the Class of 2023, more than 900 MPS graduates were awarded scholarships, and 14 MPS high schools tallied over $1 million in scholarship offers to its graduates.
MPS graduates plan to continue their education at over 30 institutions in Wisconsin, including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Technical College, and Marquette University.
Members of the Class of 2023 also have been accepted at nearly 30 historically Black colleges and universities, such as Howard University, Morehouse College, and Tuskegee University.
Others have been accepted at another 50-plus colleges and universities across the country, including Cornell University, the University of Chicago, and Georgia State University. Some plan to attend international schools, while others plan careers in the military, in service organizations, and in the trades.
Pictured in the image above, from left: Dr. John R. Hill, director of College and Career Readiness at MPS; MPS Superintendent Dr. Keith P. Posley; MPS graduates and scholarship winners Chianang Xiong of James Madison Academic Campus, Savion Jarvis of Golda Meir School, and Kearra Hartz of Bradley Technology and Trade High School; Jilly Gokalgandhi, who represents District 5 on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors and is the board’s vice president; and Henry Leonard, who represents District 7 on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors.
