The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation's Scholarship Program Named 'Scholarship Provider of the Year' by the National Scholarship Providers Association

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dell Scholars Program, an initiative of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, received the prestigious "Scholarship Provider of the Year" award from the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA).

The Dell Scholars Program was recognized for its unique aspects, from the type of students it supports, to the internally-developed software the foundation uses to help select the Dell Scholars, to the program's focused retention efforts to ensure that Dell Scholars don't just go to college, but actually obtain a degree. These differentiators have contributed to the Dell Scholars Program's retention rate of more than 90 percent, well above the national average of 22 percent.

"As a foundation, we're continually looking for innovative models in education that work and are sustainable and replicable for maximum impact," said Kevin Byrne, director, Dell Scholars Program. "With our Dell Scholars Program, we've developed an approach that allows us to provide a college education to a previously underserved group of students and enables us to share best practices with other scholarship programs that can benefit from our learnings. We fundamentally believe that a college education helps break the cycle of poverty for these students, so we are committed to expanding our own program and working with other scholarship providers to ensure that more scholarship opportunities are available to our nation's youth."

Scholarship Program Is More Than a Check

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation created the Dell Scholars Program to assist an underserved population -- high school students who may not achieve the top GPAs or standardized test scores but have a desire and determination to go to college, and have overcome personal challenges in their pursuit of higher education. While most scholarships are awarded based solely on merit, the Dell Scholars Program takes circumstances such as socio-economic status and family life into consideration.

The program chooses 250 scholars annually, and the Dell Scholars receive $20,000 each to continue their higher education over the course of six years. In addition, the Dell Scholars Program provides its students with technology, resources and mentoring to ensure they have the support they need to obtain a degree. Since the program's inception in 2004, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has awarded almost 1,000 scholarships and committed more than $19 million in scholarship funds. Because of its success and potential, the Dell Scholars Program is planning to significantly expand its program over the next few years.

"We've learned a great deal from our Dell Scholars over the past four years, especially how far determination, belief, and supportive program structures can go in improving the lives of youth and breaking the cycle of poverty through a college degree," said Byrne. "In turn, these scholars serve as positive role models and change the trajectories for their siblings, friends and communities."

Dell Scholars Program Shares Best Practices to Increase Scholarship Availability to More Students

Because Dell Scholars are chosen more for their ability to overcome obstacles than for their grade point averages or test scores, the scholarship program needed a way to evaluate the applicants and select students with a high potential to succeed. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation developed its own software to manage the selection process. The software employs a sophisticated algorithm that helps predict a student's propensity to graduate from college based on several factors, despite the personal challenges these determined, low-income students may be addressing in their lives. The software has proven so reliable that the Dell family foundation has consulted with several other scholarship programs that want to pursue a similar path.

Applying for various scholarships can be time-consuming and overwhelming for students seeking financial assistance, even though most scholarship applications share common questions and data fields (e.g. name, birth date, financial information, etc.). Recently, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, in coordination with NSPA, developed a Scholarship Data Standard, a web-based solution for scholarship applications that allows students to complete an online scholarship application, then re-use the information with other scholarship providers without retyping their data again and again. The Scholarship Data Standard uses XML (eXtensible Markup Language), which allows information systems to share structured data. Since the standard allows computers to automatically process scholarship application data regardless of the source, it also allows scholarship providers to share seamlessly scholarship applications. Additionally, the standard can provide a bridge between scholarship software tools that were not originally designed to work together. Ultimately, the standard is intended to provide students with easier access to more scholarships.

The 2008 Scholarship Provider of the Year Awards were given out in two categories -- Independent Providers, and College and University Providers. The Independent Providers category was open to scholarship organizations run by a private or public foundation unaffiliated with a specific college or university while the College and University Providers category consisted of scholarship organizations within a post-secondary educational institution providing scholarships for study at the institution. FastWeb, the Internet's leading scholarship search service, sponsored the awards and selected the winners.

For more information about the Dell Scholars Program or to access the 2009 application, visit http://www.dellscholars.org.

About the Dell Scholars Program

The Dell Scholars Program is a scholarship program unique in the type of students it supports and how it fosters those students on their path to a college degree. An initiative of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Dell Scholars Program provides its students with resources and mentoring beyond initial financial assistance to ensure they have the support they need to obtain a college degree. http://www.dellscholars.org

About the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (http://www.msdf.org) is dedicated to improving the lives of children living in urban poverty around the world. With offices in Austin, TX and New Delhi, India, the Dell family foundation funds programs that foster high-quality public education and childhood health, and improve the economic stability of families living in poverty. With an endowment of $1.3 billion, the foundation has committed more than $450 million to global children's issues and community initiatives to date.

About the National Scholarship Providers Association

"Promoting Student Access and Success in Higher Education through Scholarships: Our Mission, Our Passion, Our Responsibility"

The mission of the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) is to advance the collective impact of scholarship providers, and the scholarships they award, through exchanging best practices, offering professional development opportunities, and promoting student access and success in higher education. The NSPA is a membership association representing over 260 scholarship providers including private, community, and corporate foundations, colleges and universities, and affiliate organizations engaged in the field of higher education scholarships.

     For further information, please contact:
     Lindsey Elbom
     Weber Shandwick
     512-794-4724
     lelbom@webershandwick.com