Free College Education Opportunity for New Haven and Bridgeport Students

This story is getting some buzz.

Few Takers For Four Years Of Free SCSU Tuition

It's about the fact that grants are available for New Haven and Bridgeport (Connecticut) students, to get a math or science college education free (and a laptop)! However, there have been few takers.

The article is rough on students, and the reader starts to think that New Haven and Bridgeport cannot and are not producing strong students in math and science OR that they are not happy to seek this (seemingly too good to be true) hand out. However upon reading the comments it becomes clear the issue may have been poor marketing and communications on behalf of the well-intentioned SCSU college professor in charge of the program.

Fast and easy promotion can be done free of charge using Twitter and Facebook. Students use those online social networking sites and they are primed for fast spreading by virtual 'word of mouth'. Too bad they weren't used. Instead, a paper postcard was sent to schools in those cities.

Another idea I had was to promote this via local radio stations, stations that the teens listen to. This could be done on morning radio shows as well as afternoon and evening shows. If the radio stations refuse to promote this they should be ashamed of themselves.

Also, I am sure WTNH (television station) in New Haven would have been happy to promote this opportunity.

I also have a question about why this is limited to New Haven and Bridgeport students. If the goal is to help those at poverty level why not open this up to all students in New Haven and Fairfield County (the counties those two cities reside in) but place a financial aid qualifier on the program?

In the early 1990s Connecticut spread their low income housing to the suburbs, I recall this move as part of a big legal case. Back then the town I resided in felt threatened to change zoning to allow higher density housing to be built in order to expand the town's population of low income peoples. This would give low income families an option to move out of the city and into the suburbs to where the 'better schools' were. Children living in poverty level would have the advantage of attending public school in the suburbs rather than staying in the city projects and to continue attending school there.

Please help spread the word that this free scholarship opportunity exists. It is paid for by a grant from the National Science Foundation which I believe is paid for by your tax dollars and mine, this is one example of spreading the taxpayer's wealth around.

Qualified students, please apply for this!