‘EducaTe’ Hispanic Higher Education Outreach Campaign Launches.

The National Association of Hispanic Publications Foundation in partnership with Exelon and La Raza Newspaper announced the launch of the “EducaTe” edition of the Hispanic Scholarship Directory. This business and non-profit partnership seeks to increase the number of Hispanic students able to access a higher education in the Midwest by providing important information in Spanish and English about how to apply to college and how to finance a higher education. It is believed to be the largest single Hispanic higher education outreach campaign ever undertaken in the United States.

Today, America’s Hispanic students are well represented at community colleges but underrepresented at four year institutions of learning. “For our country to continue to excel, for our Hispanic community to play a role in that prosperity, we must increase the level of education of our youth and working adults. Our Hispanic community is motivated, but they need information for the family to decide how best to proceed and how best to pay for that education. The NAHP Foundation is proud of the role we play on this occasion with Exelon and La Raza Newspaper in making that information accessible” said Luis Rossi, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the NAHP Foundation and a Chicago business leader.

“EducaTe” is a special tabloid size version of the nationally accessible Hispanic scholarship directory with over 1,000 scholarships, grants or other financial aid tools open to residents of the Chicago area. This targeted edition will be distributed in partnership with La Raza Newspaper of Chicago. Over 200,000 copies of the 28 page plus tabloid will be distributed in the Sunday, February 25th edition of La Raza to Hispanic homes and newsstands throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. In addition, over 25,000 copies will be printed and distributed directly to community centers, libraries, high school and college counselors, and civic organizations

“Exelon knows that a college education is one of the most important investments a person can make and we want these students to be prepared for their roles in the work force of the 21st century,” said Rey Gonzalez, vice president of legislative and community affairs for ComEd, a subsidiary of Exelon. “We are pleased that we can further demonstrate our commitment to diversity and education by sponsoring this scholarship directory for Hispanic students.”

The “EducaTe” supplement also includes college planning advice and a calendar to assist in meeting deadlines for admission and financial aid. The “2007 Hispanic Scholarship Directory” is available on line at http://www.scholarshipsforhispanics.org> and in CD Rom format.

With this distribution of over 225,000 copies in partnership with La Raza Newspaper, the NAHP Foundation will have set a milestone for outreach breaking the record for all other print distribution of the directory this decade. “One of La Raza’s primary missions is to empower our community with access to education. With the EducaTe Program, we can increase access to college for thousands of deserving Hispanic youth in Chicago. La Raza was proud to take the lead in this unique national public information campaign to inform our community and develop a model that can be used by other Hispanic newspapers throughout the USA. The real pay-off to this pilot program will be in providing Latino students with access to funds to pay for their education.” said Robert J. Armband, publisher & CEO of La Raza Newspaper an ImpreMedia Publication.

“With this new outreach initiative, La Raza Newspaper is demonstrating the strength of what newspapers do best: reach into the community in a large scale and provide critically important information that can be referenced and passed on as needed” said Tom Oliver, CEO of the NAHP Foundation. “For the past three years, Exelon has supported continual access to information in a format that addresses the special needs of Hispanic students, their families and our community. In addition to Exelon, the parent company of ComEd, we are honored to have the support of Lexicon Marketing’s “Sin Barreras Foundation,” Morton College, Coca Cola, CitiBank and US Cellular as Chicago sponsors for this unique outreach initiative through our partnership with La Raza Newspaper” Oliver added.