High School Graduate Receives A Million Dollars in Scholarships

Chicago - One Chicago high school graduate walked across stage $1 million richer.

Noble Street College Prep graduate Evelyn Valle got $1 million worth of scholarships and grants to attend Yale University this fall.

“It's exciting. It's not every day that you get into an Ivy League, but I went to visit and I loved it,” she said.

Valle isn't the only student at Noble who's going to college with a big wad of scholarship cash; the grand total for all graduates is more than $11 million.

What's their secret? A special "college writing" class, held every other day, during which counselor Adriana Villegas drums into the kids the importance of filling out not only college applications, but forms for financial aid and scholarships.

Ninety-seven percent of Noble's graduates are going to be enrolled in a four-year school, but more than 90 percent are low-income. So if they don't get financial aid, they won't be going anywhere.

On top of these challenges, 78 percent are the first generation in their families to go to college. That certainly means mom and dad are proud, but it also means they might not know exactly how to help their kids navigate the maze of financial and scholarship forms.

“We make sure that students apply to various schools and send all their verification documents, and that they actually understand how award letters work and that they can see which school benefits them financially,” said Villegas. Villegas also has tips the kids might not get elsewhere, like the fact that the best time to apply for scholarships is January.

The effort paid off, not just for Evelyn Valle, but also for her brother Andres, who got a full-ride to   Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. A fellow student who's going to Saint Mary’s College got more than $363,000.

Villegas attended a high school in the Chicago Public School district and she said she went to college thanks to one teacher, Michael Milkie, who walked her through the application process. 

"I am able to stand here and talk to you because of this person who took an interest in me and invested in me," she said. "Because I benefited from that support, I do the same thing for my students."