Newswise — In a groundbreaking initiative, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has signed direct admission agreements with three local school districts, streamlining the path to higher education for thousands of students in central Arkansas.
Little Rock School District (LRSD), North Little Rock School District (NLRSD), and Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) have signed Memorandums of Understandings to become direct admission district partners with UA Little Rock.
“Recent student surveys indicate that nearly one-third of high school seniors have doubts about going to college due to financial reasons, are unsure how to get started, or are apprehensive about their ability to meet admission standards,” said Dr. Cody Decker, vice chancellor for student affairs and chief data officer at UA Little Rock. “The direct admission agreements specifically address these concerns by partnering with area school districts to streamline the college admission process and automatically awarding financial aid to eligible students.”
Undergraduate students from LRSD, NLRSD, and PCSSD who apply to UA Little Rock will receive a waived application fee as well as a streamlined admission application. UA Little Rock will receive student transcripts directly from the State of Arkansas electronic transcript system, which relieves the school districts of the need to provide student transcripts.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with UA Little Rock through the direct admissions program,” said Dr. Jermall Wright, superintendent of Little Rock School District. “This ongoing collaboration will open incredible opportunities to our students, providing a seamless pathway to higher education and empowering them to achieve their academic and career goals. By working together, we are ensuring that every student in the Little Rock School District has the support and resources they need to succeed in college and beyond.”
UA Little Rock is also dedicated to helping Arkansans graduate from college with little to no debt. The students will automatically be considered for the Trojan Guarantee Scholarship, a last-dollar scholarship that covers the cost of tuition and mandatory fees after federal, state, and institutional aid is applied, resulting in a no-cost bachelor’s degree for eligible students, as well as UA Little Rock’s Half-Off Scholarship, which covers half of the tuition and course fees for eligible freshman for up to two years.
This partnership with Little Rock School District, North Little Rock School District, and Pulaski County Special School District aims to ease the college acceptance process, providing students with a clearer and more accessible route to earning an affordable, high-quality college education.
“We are very excited to enter this partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to support our students in their postsecondary future,” said Dr. Charles McNulty, superintendent of PCSSD. “We have a strong commitment as a district to ensure our students are college and career ready with initiatives like AVID and the PCSSD Academies of Central Arkansas. This partnership with UA Little Rock provides one more pathway for our students to achieve their dreams after graduation. We couldn’t be more excited to work with UA Little Rock in this endeavor, which we hope sparks future opportunities to collaborate together for the benefit of our students!”
Dr. Gregory Pilewski, superintendent of NLSD, said he is excited about this partnership and the opportunities it will afford the students.
“This partnership will assist our counselors and administrators in guiding students to consider the wealth of possibilities at UA Little Rock, in addition to the financial break that can be realized by going to this institution,” Pilewski said. “We look forward to working with the university to expose our future-ready scholars to the academic and social experiences that are available to its students.”
You can learn more about joining UA Little Rock by visiting https://ualr.edu/admissions.
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