MILWAUKEE — Over 700 students from 25 area schools gathered at the Wisconsin Center District for a free, college-and-career readiness event.
Stacey Spratt is the director of events and Empower Me Tour for the United Negro College Fund.
"The Empower Me Tour is a traveling road show. We offer scholarship opportunities, we offer information about how to pay for college, we talk about financial aid, we talk about not only how to pay for college, but how does one get to college and get through college."
You may be familiar with the United Negro College Fund's iconic slogan "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". The organization was founded in 1944 and has raised more than $5 billion for students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
Friday's Empower Me Tour offered millions of dollars in scholarships to local students on-the-spot with 20 HBCU's in attendance, as well as 12 area colleges and universities.
"The last time we were in person in 2019, our students racked up over $11 million in scholarships, so this is a game changer for our young people," said Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley.
Kailey Shaw-Smith and William Epps are both seniors at Golda Meir High School and won scholarships while attending the Empower Me Tour.
"I applied for Payne College right on the spot, and I got accepted and I got a scholarship for $20,000. That's pretty exciting because I was pretty doubtful coming into this, but I'm actually proud of how it came out," said Shaw-Smith.
"I've talked with a lot of colleges, got a lot of acceptances and scholarships and I'm just really blessed to be here," said Epps.
College is more important than ever, but also more expensive than ever. According to the NY Times and U.S. government data, more than 45 million people collectively owe $1.6 trillion in student debt. That figure skyrocketed over the last half century as the cost of higher education continues to rise.
Those numbers are a reminder that a mind IS a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in!
Stefanny Sanchez is a senior at Milwaukee High School of the Arts.
"Being able to achieve my own dreams since I've been planning since I was in the 4th grade actually it's really important," she said.
