EPISD's Class of 2020 rakes in $87 million in scholarships despite pandemic closures
(EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT July 7, 2020) — EPISD’s historic Class of 2020 raked in nearly $87 million in college scholarships and other funding for post-secondary training — an impressive haul given the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the second half of the semester.
In total, graduating seniors amassed $86,715,363 in scholarships, grants, military, exemptions, dual credit fee waivers and other waivers.
“The mere fact that students continued to pursue applying and securing scholarships during the COVID-19 lockdown speaks to their level of commitment to their pursuit of a post-secondary education during challenging times,” said Manuel Castruita, director of Counseling and Advising. “We want to recognize and applaud the work of students, professional school counselors, college readiness coordinators, teachers and parents for their work with and on behalf of student during what was a very challenging end of the 2019-20 school year.”
The El Paso Directors of Guidance recognized that during the pandemic some students may have experienced hardships in applying for scholarships and other forms of financial assistance of which schools may not have been aware.
For that reason, this year’s post-secondary education funding report is not believed to be a true reflection of the actual haul earned by the Class of 2020 throughout the region.
Still, Castruita said an impressive number of EPISD seniors applied for and received funding for college and other education after high school.
Of the EPISD’s 4,889 seniors, 1,657 were among the students receiving funding for post-secondary education. This includes: 701 scholarships; 323 grants; 1,125 dual-credit waivers; 30 military scholarships; and 359 other waivers.
“We were happy to celebrate with our seniors during our in-person graduations late in June,” said Superintendent Juan E. Cabrera. “We now this school year did not end the way they envisioned, but their determination and willingness to thrive despite any obstacle is evident in the impressive amount of scholarship money they earned during a very difficult time in our world.”
Below are the campus totals:
Campus |
Scholarships |
Graduates |
Andress |
$2,086,655 |
367 |
Austin |
$3,290,421 |
349 |
Bowie |
$659,922 |
375 |
Burges |
$9,775,753 |
375 |
Chapin |
$10,413,667 |
483 |
Coronado |
$19,057,235 |
770 |
El Paso |
$11,186,820 |
418 |
Franklin |
$15,823,165 |
699 |
Irvin |
$4,811,483 |
340 |
Jefferson |
$538,965 |
254 |
Silva Magnet |
$4,220,479 |
166 |
TMECHS |
$4,694,552 |
88 |
Raymond Telles Academy |
$70,476 |
6 |
|
|
Photos by Leonel Monroy