Welding and design students

LevelUp Scholarship Program

Investment in Scholarships for Students: $20,000,000

It is time to extend the promise made through Rising Star. The Dallas College Foundation is seeking funds for a new endowed scholarship program, LevelUp, created to inspire individuals to achieve while helping businesses prosper.

The Promise of a New Opportunity

Open to all Dallas County residents 21 years of age or older who demonstrate financial need, regardless of educational background, this endowment will provide a last-dollar scholarship equal to the cost of tuition and books not covered by a Pell grant or other financial aid for those who enroll in high-demand career pathway programs.

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The average age of Dallas College students is 26; By 2030, 60% of jobs will require a degree or credential beyond high school


Extending the Promise of a College Education

Providing financial support for recent Dallas County high school graduates to enroll in college remains a priority. But consider others in Dallas:

  • Hispanics now represent 39% of the population and 51% of Hispanics have no high school diploma. Those without a high school diploma cannot benefit from the promise of Rising Star.
  • More than 1,200,000 new residents moved to Dallas in the last decade. Those who did not graduate from a Dallas County high school cannot benefit from the promise of Rising Star.
  • 21% of all adults in the Metroplex have some college, but no degree and only 8% of Hispanics and 15% of African Americans over 25 have a college degree.
  • Those who choose to come back and finish their degree as an adult cannot benefit from the promise of Rising Star.
  • Dallas residents are more likely to be impoverished than any of America’s biggest cities except in Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia.

It is time to extend the promise of a college education to all residents of Dallas County!

Labor market information guides which programs are offered to students in order for them to enter the job market immediately upon completion.

In-Demand Pathways will include:

  • Early Childhood Education
  • IT certificates and programs
  • Manufacturing and logistics certificates and programs
  • Residential construction certificates and programs
  • Accounting certificates and programs
  • Various Health Professions certificates and programs
“In most areas around the nation there are jobs available in certain high skill areas, but we don’t have the educational basis for it. There is a skills mismatch; that’s part of the problem.”

– Richard Fisher, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

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