West Virginia Universitys new PROMISE Scholars and their parents are invited to a reception from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, in the multi-purpose room of the Student Recreation Center on WVU s Evansdale Campus. The reception is part of Fall Family Weekend activities on campus.

WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. and PROMISE Scholars Executive Director Lisa DeFrank-Cole will be on hand to honor the achievements of scholarship recipients.

This reception is a great way for the University to recognize some of our best and brightest students and their families,Hardesty said.We encourage as many of our PROMISE Scholars and their families to join us as possible.

Hardesty noted that several WVU PROMISE Scholars have been featured in recent news stories in both U.S. News and World Report and USA Today.

Our students are overwhelmingly complimentary of the program and say things like `Thanks to PROMISE , I will graduate from college debtfreeand `this scholarship will help my parents pay for college educations for three siblings,Hardesty said.

According to Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Services Brenda Thompson, nearly 3,500 PROMISE Scholars are enrolled at WVU this fall�€the most in West Virginia. Some 1,300 of those are in the fall 2004 class.

Gov. Bob Wise recently announced that 4,074 high school seniors were awarded the PROMISE Scholarship for 2004-2005.

The PROMISE (Providing Real Opportunities for Maximizing In-state Student Excellence) Scholarship�€now in its third year�€is based on a students academic achievements. The program offers thousands of West Virginia high school graduates -with a 3.0 grade point average in the core and overall coursework, as well as a composite ACT score of at least 21, or a combined SAT score of 1000a full-tuition scholarship to a state college or university or an equivalent dollar scholarship to an in-state private college. (more)

Deadline for this years application is March 1, 2005. Information:www.promisescholarships.org