Sport
LeBron James foundation launches college scholarships
The university is renaming its education department the LeBron James Family Foundation College of Education. The first class eligible for the scholarships will graduate in 2021.
The scholarship program was welcomed, positive news for Akron, which announced US$40 million in widespread cuts – including the loss of the baseball team – this summer due to financial troubles.
“Every institution goes has to go through an adjustment from time to time and you look at what you’ve funded in the past and you look at the things that are new opportunities and new initiatives for the future and this fits in our sweet spot,” he said. “This is a program that focuses on the local area. This is a program that rewards earning your way into college. I think LeBron’s philosophy is that things are earned not given and that aligns well with our emphasis on experience and learning and career service and education.
“We are excited about this and it does represent what the university wants to be about in the future. In the end, this is a university that makes students of all ages dreams come true, so this seems to fit nicely with what LeBron wants for his kids and what we want for the university.”
JPMorgan Chase is providing a program to track the progress of students in the program.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press
