Bennett College September 18, 2015 Bennett College Selected As Member Of Say Yes Higher Education Compact Bennett College Becomes the Only HBCU of the National Private College Consortium GREENSBORO, NC -- Say Yes to Education, a pioneering nonprofit organization that partners with communities to promote the goal of giving every public high school graduate access to college or other post-secondary scholarships, announced Thursday that it had selected Guilford County, North Carolina to be the site of its next community chapter. Say Yes also announced Thursday that its Higher Education Compact - a coalition of private colleges and universities located in 21 states and the District of Columbia that offer full-tuition scholarships to eligible Say Yes Scholars - had reached the milestone of 100 member institutions. The compact had 38 member colleges as recently as two years ago and 69 during the last academic year. On Thursday, Bennett College became one of the newest members of the Say Yes To Education Higher Education Compact. Bennett is among the list of the organization's 31 newest higher education partners which includes institutions such as California Institute of Technology (CalTech), George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University. A full roster is available at www.sayyestoeducation.org<http://www.sayyestoeducation.org/>. "We are really excited about the great opportunity that Bennett College has to assist in offering higher education opportunities in Guilford County and throughout the northeast," said Bennett College President Rosalind Fuse-Hall. "We believe that we are a viable choice for young women who are looking for an institution that is small, but provides an empowering education. I am also proud of the fact that we are the first and only HBCU in the 100 private colleges compact. We believe that we can help to keep more of the local talent here in Greensboro and enrich our campus by enrolling students from the Northeast that don't know a place like Bennett College." In joining the Say Yes Higher Education Compact, private colleges and universities agree to ensure that students whose annual family income is at or below $75,000 are typically eligible, at a minimum, to attend tuition-free, provided they successfully navigate the institution's regular admission process. Say Yes students whose family income is above $75,000 and who are enrolled in a Compact institution are eligible to receive annual grants, from the local scholarship fund, of up to $5,000. Guildford County becomes Say Yes' third community chapter, joining the upstate New York cities of Buffalo, which began implementing the Say Yes community strategy in 2012, and Syracuse, which began a pilot program in 2008. Through their Say Yes chapter, Guilford County Schools' students will have access not only to last dollar tuition scholarships, but also a menu of supports and services - academic and social-emotional, as well as medical and legal-to ensure that they progress successfully along the pathway to post-secondary readiness. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.