Over 1,000 Boston Public Schools students receive free tuition to state colleges

BOSTON - Over 1,000 Boston Public Schools students were recently awarded free tuition at any state college based on their performance on the MCAS exams.

The students all qualified for the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, sponsored by the Department of Education and Board of Higher Education.

A total of 1,036 Boston Public Schools (BPS) students in the Class of 2008, nearly one in four seniors this year, earned the scholarships. The number of BPS students qualifying has increased steadily since the awards were first given in 2005 when the number was 724.

"In order to be successful adults, our students must continue their education beyond high school," said Superintendent Dr. Carol R. Johnson. "The Adams scholarship will help many students overcome the last barrier between them and a college education: the cost. I hope many Boston students take full advantage of this opportunity to continue their learning here in Massachusetts."

To qualify for the scholarship, students had to score in the Advanced category (Level 4) on either the English Language Arts or Math sections of the MCAS exams and in at least Proficient (Level 3) on the other. Also, the students' scores had to rank in the top 25% of the district.

"This recognition is well deserved," said Acting Education Commissioner Jeffrey Nellhaus. "This scholarship has been a tremendous incentive for our high school students to show their best work on MCAS. It will help ease the cost of college for these recipients and allow them to continue their academic growth after high school."

Adams Scholarship recipients receive free tuition at any of Massachusetts' public colleges and universities. The tuition waiver remains in effect for eight consecutive semesters or four years. Recipients must begin to use the waiver in the first fall semester following their high school graduation, and must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better.

The complete list of Boston students eligible by school is below.

• Back Bay: Snowden (10)
• Brighton: Another Course to College (13), Boston Community Leadership Academy (6), Brighton (44)
• Charlestown: Charlestown (33)
• Chinatown: Quincy Upper (11)
• Dorchester: Academy of Public Service (2), Burke HS (3), Boston Latin Academy (202), Noonan Business Academy (8), TechBoston Academy (22)
• East Boston: East Boston (41)
• Fenway: Boston Arts Academy (16), Boston Latin School (365), Fenway (15), Health Careers Academy (8), McKinley (1)
• Hyde Park: Community Academy of Science and Health (2), The Engineering School (9), Social Justice Academy (3)
• Jamaica Plain: Boston International (3), English (11)
• Roxbury: Boston Day and Evening Academy (1), Community Academy (1) Madison Park (10) O'Bryant (146), New Mission (4)
• South Boston: Excel (12), Monument (7), Odyssey (4)
• West Roxbury: Brook Farm Business and Service Career Academy (7), Media Communications Technology (7), Parkway Academy of Technology and Health (8), Urban Science Academy (1)

4 schools, and recently won the Broad Prize for Urban Education as the top city school district in the country.