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An innovative new partnership with The Howley Foundation will allow economically-disadvantaged students from select Northeast Ohio high schools to successfully pursue and complete a college degree at Cleveland State University.

Under the program, The Howley Foundation and CSU will provide qualified graduates of Saint Martin de Porres, Benedictine and Villa Angela-St. Joseph high schools up to $11,000 annually in scholarship support. The foundation expects to expand this program to other high schools in the future. The funding is designed to help students pay for tuition and room and board not covered by financial aid or other scholarships. This type of “gap funding” is often the difference maker for students – ensuring they can attend college.

“Our goal is to make higher education more accessible and affordable for economically disadvantaged students,” said PJ Reindel, executive director of The Howley Foundation. “We want to make sure that they have the resources and support they need to not only get to college, but through college and on to meaningful careers.”

In addition to the financial assistance, the students will also receive extensive support services from both the foundation and the university.

The Howley Scholars will participate in the university’s highly successful living learning community program, which provides a residential experience with academic support, graduation coaching and other comprehensive wraparound services. They will also join CSU’s Summer Transition Enrichment Program (STEP) that helps students transition to college by preparing them for college-level coursework or simply get a head start on their studies.

Through the foundation, each student will also be supported by an alumni coordinator from their high school, who will provide guidance on course selection and other academic support. The coordinator will also help students navigate college systems like financial aid, work study and internships.

“We know college degrees change lives. That is why we are so incredibly grateful to The Howley Foundation for their generosity and support of this innovative partnership,” said CSU president Harlan Sands. “We have a proven formula for student success at CSU with our living learning communities and we’re excited to be able to extend that opportunity to more Cleveland families.”

The Howley Foundation has traditionally supported high school scholarships and programming at elementary schools, and more recently began funding college scholarships. The CSU Howley Scholars program is the first partnership of its kind for the foundation.