Sallie Mae College Bus Tour to Roll Through Indiana
Raquel Bahamonde, Inside INdiana Business

Sallie Mae Indiana Executive Vice President June McCormack says a study conducted by Sallie Mae shows that half of Latino and African American parents couldn't name a single source of financial aid.

The Sallie Mae Fund is bringing its Paying for College bus tour to Indianapolis today. The nationwide tour is an effort to educate students and parents, particularly Latino and African Americans about resources available to help pay for college. A study conducted by Sallie Mae shows that half of Latino and African American parents couldn't name a single source of financial aid when asked, but 90 percent feel college is an important part of success
The study also found that the likelihood of a 9th grade student in the United States enrolling in college four years later is less than 40 percent, and that number drops dramatically for Latinos and African American students.

On September 14, the bus tour will conduct a workshop at Arsenal Technical High School and at the Hispanic Community Center, La Plaza. Area students and parents are invited to a free public event this evening at La Plaza, located at 8902 E. 38th St. A light dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and the workshop runs from 7-8:30 p.m. A $1,000 scholarship will be awarded.

On Saturday, September 15, the bus will visit Fiesta Indianapolis, the annual Hispanic heritage festival held on the American Legion Mall downtown, from Noon to 6 p.m. One $500 scholarship will be presented.

Sallie Mae says the objectives behind the Bus Tour are:

1. To communicate the benefits of a college education
2. To demonstrate that college is affordable and accessible for all families
3. To help increase the number of low-income and minority students enrolling in college

Participating in the tour is Arnold Hernandez, who grew up as a migrant farm worker before finding a way to attend college and become a journalist. Hernandez says that his parents never encouraged any of their children to go to college because they didn't think they could afford it. Hernandez says often times there are scholarships, or free money, that goes unused because people don't apply. He says he is living proof that there is a way to pay for a college education.

Source: Inside INdiana Business

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