In an increasingly competitive run for acceptance to the nation’s top colleges, high school students must work ever harder to prove themselves worthy of admission. At Durango High School and local charter Animas High School, this year’s graduates did so in spades. The classes of both schools – as well as their parents, teachers and advocates – deserve congratulations on their academic achievements both in high school and in those that beckon in college.
Animas High School, which just graduated its second class of seniors, granted diplomas to 43 students who were accepted by 62 colleges and garnered a total of $1.5 million in scholarship money. While not all of these graduates will attend college next year, they have each earned the opportunity at such institutions as Colorado College, University of Oregon, Cornell, Smith and Union colleges, and Colorado School of Mines. These are not easily won achievements, and the fledgling charter school has proved itself an effective education option in Durango.
At Durango High School, 83 percent of the 255 graduates who earned diplomas Friday were accepted to colleges and universities across the country, including no shortage of Ivy League institutions. Harvard, Stanford, Brown and University of Pennsylvania extended invitations to DHS graduates, who had no fewer than 35 white-robe honorees at graduation – those earning a 4.0 or higher grade point average.
These are particularly impressive results for two public schools tucked in the southwest corner of Colorado, and students should take great pride in their achievements – and what the future offers them as a result.
College acceptance requires more and more diligence and diversification than ever before from high school students, all while the cost rises steadily. Despite the significant scholarship and aid money students at DHS and AHS secured, paying for education is an ever-higher bar to reach. Reduced public investment in higher education has increased tuition costs, and 7 in 10 graduating college seniors today carry some student debt – an average of $29,400 per borrower, according to the Project on Student Debt. In Colorado, though, the numbers are slightly less bleak: 52 percent of graduates carry debt averaging $25,400 per borrower. But the number of borrowers has climbed about 6 percent each year since 2008, and there is little sign of that trend subsiding. Investing in college education takes a serious commitment of both resources and effort – now more than ever.
This year’s crop of Durango graduates has proved itself up to the challenge. Students worked admirably hard to earn admission and aid to the nation’s top schools and many other excellent institutions. If their success in high school is any indication, Durango’s students will go on to high achievements in college and far beyond.
