Mayor Dean Sets up New Scholarship Fund

Mayor Karl Dean announced a new scholarship fund today to help Metro high school students who take college classes.

Mayor Dean says the last school administration wasn’t a big supporter of the dual-enrollment program, so he says not that many students were taking classes at local community colleges. Dean wants that to change.

“We’re hoping that we get a lot of new students and hopefully the numbers will grow year by year. I would think that at some point you would get half of the juniors and seniors in high school.”

236 students took classes at community colleges last year using a special lottery scholarship. It’s not quite enough to cover the full cost of tuition, which Dean says can be a barrier to many students. The new foundation will cover the $80.00 difference.

The fund is a partnership between the Nashville State Community College foundation and several private groups.