Milwaukee Public Schools Class of 2023 scholarships and grants set record
The scholarships and grants offered to Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) graduates in 2023 totaled a record-setting $121-million.
The jump by $14-million in 2023 represents the largest year-over-year increase in scholarships and grants since MPS began tracking the total in 2012.
The reveal was held on the front lawn of MPS Central Services, 5225 W. Vliet Street, with several of the more than 900 scholarship and grant awardees in attendance.
One of them was Chianang Xiong, salutatorian and senior class president at James Madison Academic Campus. Xiong said she initially applied for scholarships on her own and was rejected. She worried she wouldn’t be able to afford college, but she began working with her school counselor and the staff of the MPS College and Career Center at James Madison to apply for scholarships.
Ultimately, she received more than $200,000 in scholarship offers. She intends to attend UWM on a $15,000 scholarship, to major in diagnostic medical sonography.
Another graduate, Savion Jarvis of Golda Meir School, spoke of the strong support he received from MPS’ Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement on his journey through school. He was offered multiple scholarships and plans to study political science at North Carolina Central University, to “give back to grassroots organizations to create equity in Milwaukee” after he graduates, Jarvis said.
Kearra Hartz, who graduated from Bradley Technology and Trade High School in the school’s top 5 percent, wants to address gun violence and mental illness by studying psychology at Marquette University, where a scholarship will cover four years of tuition and two of room and board. “When I graduate, I will be able to give back to my community in a positive way,” she said.
Except for one year, the MPS scholarship and grant total for graduates has climbed steadily since 2012, when it was $18-million:
In addition to school counselors and College and Career Centers — which assist all Milwaukee students in Grades 6 through 12 and even after graduation — the district has a scholarship coordinator.
MPS now has 21 College and Career Centers in schools, and it also serves schools without centers. The staff help students with scholarship applications, college tours, résumé writing, job searching, and more.
Three of the centers — Bradley Tech High School, 700 S. 4th Street; Milwaukee School of Languages, 8400 W. Burleigh Street; and Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning, 1017 N. 12th Street — are open over the summer. Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Fourteen MPS high schools tallied more than $1- million in scholarship and grant offers to its graduates.
MPS graduates plan to continue their education at more than 30 institutions in Wisconsin, including the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Technical College, and Marquette University.
Members of the Class of 2023 have been accepted at more than 30 historically Black colleges and universities, such as Howard University, Morehouse College, and Tuskegee University.
Others have been accepted at another 50-plus colleges and universities across the country, including Cornell University, the University of Chicago, and Georgia State University. Some plan to attend international schools, while others plan careers in the military, in service organizations, and in the trades.
