Henderson State University has been awarded $771,000 through AT&T's Aspire program to expand the its Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy, AT&T announced Thursday.
The academy, founded in 2009, was created as an academic intervention for high school students at risk of dropping out and to benefit graduates with insufficient college and career preparedness, an AT&T news release states. The funding will expand the program to more students and hire additional educators to keep classes small enough to permit individualized instruction.
The Aspire program aims to prepare more students for for college and careers before they graduate high school, according to its website.
Among the 1,100 schools, school districts and non-profits that applied for the funding, only 30 were chosen, according to the release.