University Communications
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, Texas 78228

Lucha Ramey
Media Relations Director
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fx: (210) 436-3711
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St. Mary´s Awards $2.6 million in Scholarships to Outstanding High School Students

Date: 2006-08-07     Author: Gina Farrell

St. Mary’s University has awarded a total of $2.6 million in scholarships to promising high school students who recently completed their third year of the San Antonio Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP).

The top 15 graduates were awarded scholarships worth up to $50,000 each. Those scholarships are worth $10,000 a year and are renewable for four years, with an additional year available for students studying engineering. Another 148 students were awarded scholarships worth up to $12,500. Those scholarships are worth $2,500 a year and are renewable for four years, with an additional year available for students studying engineering.

Normally, the university awards the largest scholarships to the top three PREP graduates. This year, 15 students received perfect scores, so all received the largest scholarships. “This was a very bright group of kids with a lot of potential,” said Rafael Moras, Ph.D., who is the St. Mary’s PREP site director and director of the engineering graduate program.

Students in the seven-week PREP summer program took a variety of courses, including statistics, technical writing and math problem solving. The participated in hands-on engineering projects and learned about career possibilities in math, engineering and science.

Moras said that all of the students in the program tend to be motivated, high-achieving students. But even high achievers get an academic boost from the intense summer session, he added.

“They are keeping busy through the summer, and when they get back to school, they are ready,” Dr. Moras said. About 99 percent of the students who participate in the San Antonio PREP program graduate from high school and 90 percent go on to college.

St. Mary’s University is a Catholic Marianist university fostering the formation of people in faith and educating leaders for the common good through community, academic excellence, and integrated liberal arts and professional education programs. Founded by the Society of Mary in 1852, St. Mary’s is the oldest Catholic university in Texas and the Southwest.