Miami Dade College is offering a new scholarship for seniors wishing to pursue a post-secondary education.

Titled ‘American Dream Scholarship,’ the scholarship was instituted to continue the “tradition established 50 years ago of changing lives by providing opportunity,” said Miami Dade College President Dr. Eduardo Padrón.

“This scholarship dramatically expands college access for thousands of students. We established it as part of Miami Dade College’s continued commitment to this community and to our nation,” said Dr. Padrón. 

The scholarship is intended to cover the costs that are left over after all the financial aid has been applied, but will not cover book fees, special fees (like aviation and culinary fees), etc. In other words, it provides a full tuition to MDC for an associate’s degree, or 60 credits. 

In order to obtain the scholarship, the applicant must be a senior graduating from a public or private Miami-Dade County high school with a standard high school diploma between the months of May and August 2011, have a 3.0 weighted GPA or higher and be a resident of Miami-Dade County.

Senior Carlos Valdez, who is planning on attending MDC in the fall and would like to major in aviation, believes the scholarship is beneficial.

“[I think] it’s awesome, especially for people like me who have an expensive major like aviation. I still have to put out $35,000 in flight costs, so no tuition is nice,” said Valdez.

A student wishing to apply must also meet the minimum course placement scores, which consist of FCAT, CPT, PERT, ACT or SAT scores. 

The tenth grade FCAT scores require a 355 (level 4) or higher in both reading and writing and a 375 (level 5) or higher in math.

The CPT scores require an 83 or higher in both reading and writing and a 72 (elementary algebra) or higher in math.

The PERT scores require a 104 in reading, a 99 in writing and a 113 in math.

ACT scores require an 18 or higher in reading, 17 or higher in writing and 19 or higher in math.

SAT scores require a 440 or higher in reading, writing and math.

Some current MDC students find the scholarship to be valuable to high school seniors because it offers them a gateway into furthering their education.

“It’s great for students that put forth a lot of effort and work really hard and have a dire financial need. I probably would have tried to get better grades in high school because, in my opinion, one high deterrent from attending college is the cost of college. A lot of kids feel discouraged because of the cost, and they don’t want to take out loans,” said JuanCarlos Alvarez, a sophomore at MDC.

The ‘American Dream Scholarship’ will not be provided to current MDC students because “there are other opportunities available,” said Dr. Padrón.

In order to keep the scholarship, a student needs to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and earn 67 percent of credits registered, according to MDC’s website. If a student no longer meets these requirements by spring 2012, they will not be eligible to keep the scholarship. 

On how MDC is able to provide this scholarship, Dr. Padrón thanks the unending support from the community.

“The generosity of the business and philanthropic community in Miami-Dade County helped make this scholarship a reality.  They wanted to invest in young people such as those at Felix Varela Senior High School to ensure the long term economic and social development of our community,” he said.

Social studies teacher Roxanne Sanders wants to stress the importance of having a community college that offers essential opportunities to students considering enrolling in MDC.

“I was a high school drop-out who bounced from state to state and job to job. I was 30 before it dawned on [me] that without a college education, I would never advance. MDC gave me a second chance. And say what you will, [but] this community needs this institution – badly,” said Sanders.

For more information on the scholarship, 

visit http://www.mdc.edu/main/americandream/