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Horatio Alger Association Announces Collaboration with Cristo Rey Network
Need-Based Scholarships Marketed to National Work-Study School Organization

WASHINGTON, October 26, 2010–The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is proud to announce its collaboration with the Cristo Rey Network, comprised of 24 quality college preparatory Catholic high schools in 19 urban markets serving students from communities with limited educational options. Through this collaboration, the Horatio Alger Association is offering its college scholarships to at-risk and low income students who have suffered adversity yet continue to demonstrate determination through a pursuit of higher education and community service. 

“The Cristo Rey Network’s resilient and highly motivated students represent an ideal model for Horatio Alger Association Scholars,” said Terrence J. Giroux, executive director of the Horatio Alger Association. “Our collaboration with the Cristo Rey Network will allow us to provide scholarships to individual students who have faced and overcome considerable difficulties and may not otherwise have had the financial resources, mentoring, counseling or peer support for college.”

The two organizations began the partnership in early September 2010 when Horatio Alger Association staff met with more than two dozen Cristo Rey Network schools’ principals and college counselors who convened to prepare for the new school year. The staff welcomed the Cristo Rey Network as a new strategic partner and oriented their college counselors and principals to the Horatio Alger Scholarship Programs and application process. With eight more schools in development in six states, soon the Cristo Rey Network will be serving more than 10,000 young people who otherwise would not have had access to a quality, collge preparatory education.

The Horatio Alger Scholarships application is available online at www.horatioalger.org/scholarships. Scholarship application guidelines are featured on the Cristo Rey Network’s website at www.cristoreynetwork.org. The scholarship is also highlighted as one of the featured national scholarships on Naviance, an online college counseling platform used by Cristo Rey schools to guide students in their scholarship searches.

Additionally, the Cristo Rey Network college counselors and principals are promoting the Horatio Alger scholarship programs on an individual basis to the 6,500 students at their 25 schools located in 20 states across the country.

“We look forward to our new partnership with the Horatio Alger Association,” said Cristo Rey Network President and CEO Robert Birdsell. “These scholarship programs are critical to our graduates’ enrollment and success in college.”

About the Horatio Alger Association of distinguished Americans:
Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans continues to fulfill its mission of honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals in our society who have succeeded in spite of adversity and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through higher education. The Horatio Alger Association offers three annual scholarship programs: the National Scholarship Program, state scholarship programs, and graduate grants. The association is a Combined Federal Campaign participant; # 77062. For more information, please visit www.horatioalger.org.

About the Cristo Rey Network®:
The Cristo Rey Network is comprised of 24 high schools that provide a quality, Catholic, college preparatory education to 6,500 young people who live in urban communities with limited educational options. Most of the students qualify for the federal free or reduced lunch program. Member schools utilize a longer school day and year, academic assistance, and counseling to prepare students with a broad range of academic abilities for college. All students at Cristo Rey Network schools participate in a work-study program through which they finance the majority of the cost of their education, gain real world job experience, grow in self-confidence, and realize the relevance of their education. Learn more at www.cristoreynetwork.org.

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