'The Pella Promise' Draws Students to Calvin

Summary: Nine students from Pella, Iowa are incoming freshmen at Calvin College this fall because of 'The Pella Promise,' a $4,000 community-funded scholarship renewable for all four years at Calvin.

See full story: http://www.calvin.edu/news/2009-10/pella-promise

Nine students from Pella, Iowa are calling Calvin College home this fall because of a newly created scholarship called 'The Pella Promise.'

The promise is a special financial award given to any graduate of Pella Christian High School or Pella Community High School who enrolls at Calvin. The students get $4,000, renewable for up to four years, regardless of financial aid or academic criteria. The scholarship is unique for Calvin, as it is funded by a community and not an individual.

"What excites me about the Pella Promise is that a community had a vision to come together and help students they don't even know," said Tim Tripp, father of Aemelia Tripp, one of the recipients of the first round of these incentives.

Tripp sees how this financial incentive could serve as a good model for other communities.

"What really impresses me is the idea that other communities can catch the same spirit of generosity and make the same impact that Pella has," he said.

The scholarship was put in place to attract more students from Pella, Iowa, a place with historic Dutch and Christian Reformed ties that has sent just one student to Calvin since 2007. The incentive is apparently working as ten percent of Pella Christian High School's 2009 graduating class are incoming freshman at Calvin this fall.

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Received on Wed Sep 9 13:20:44 2009