El Dorado Promise

A unique scholarship program established and funded by Murphy Oil Corporation

The Promise
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The Promise

The Promise provides graduates of El Dorado High School with a scholarship covering tuition and mandatory fees that can be used at any accredited two- or four-year, public or private educational institution in the US. The maximum amount payable is up to the highest annual resident tuition at an Arkansas public university

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“Every single year, at Academic Signing Day, when I see those kids walk in with the Promise cap and graduation gown, I get chills. It’s very moving to look at each class and realize, every one of them can go to college.”

-Bonnie Haynie, Federal Programs and Special Projects Director

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Testimonials
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Brittany Nolan, EHS 2010
Ouachita Baptist University, 2014.

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Benefit for K-12

Different Colleges & Universities

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Attending College in 2019

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Students

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The Promise Has Taken Them There

When EHS graduates think about their future and where they want to be, they know they have the Promise to help get them on that path. The Promise can take them where they want to go. In fact, the Promise has taken the 2,662 Promise recipients to 145 different colleges and universities in 35 different states

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I love the Promise because…

El Dorado School District students K-12 were asked why they loved the Promise. They responded with essays and artwork.
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“With the Promise I know I can not only go to college, but I can go to the college of my choice.”
-Emme Landes, El Dorado High School

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Jenna Roblee, El Dorado High School

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“To me, the El Dorado Promise is a chance. It’s a chance to go to college to be whatever I want to be. The promise has granted me a chance to be my dream, a speech pathologist.”
-Reaves Robinson, El Dorado High School

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Avrey Davison, Washington Middle School
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Kate Vernon, El Dorado High School
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“The Promise allows me to reach for the stars and to follow my dreams.”
– Hannah Watson, El Dorado High School

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Ashley Nielson, El Dorado High School
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“The Promise to me is a secure future. It is the foot that holds the door open to our future.”
-Jordan Norman, El Dorado High School

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Thank You

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Thank you El Dorado School District Students

for taking the Promise and pursuing your goals, for working hard through school to prepare for the Promise.
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Thank you El Dorado School District Teachers, Administrators, School Board and Staff

for meeting the challenge of the Promise by providing more rigorous curriculum for our students, for creating a “college-going culture in our District and for encouraging your students to be prepared to accept the Promise.
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Thank you EHS graduates

for using the Promise as it was intended; for accepting it and pursuing your goals of going to college.
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Thank you Promise Scholars

for keeping the Promise and continuing to use it to better yourselves.
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Thank you Promise graduates

for staying the course and finishing the race, for using the full potential of the Promise and claiming your college degree.
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Thank you parents and families of EHS students

for being a part of this district and encouraging your students to take the Promise and achieve great things.
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Thank you El Dorado

for rallying with Murphy Oil Corporation to make El Dorado a community of Promise.

About our Promise Scholars

The El Dorado Promise scholars that go on to complete their college degrees and then return to contribute to our local community are always a welcome sign. The Promise is designed to enhance life here in El Dorado, which makes it rewarding to see that so many scholar graduates choose to pay it forward by returning here.

In fact, we have seen this happen quite frequently. A large group of scholarship recipients went off to their respective The El Dorado Promise colleges and graduated before returning back to work in the El Dorado School District. These are educators that know firsthand the power of the Promise and they are advocates for it as they work and engage with fellow students in the school system.

The El Dorado Promise alumni have studied all over the country

The El Dorado Promise awards high school graduates with money to cover tuition and mandatory expenses that come with a two- or four-year college or university either here in Arkansas or elsewhere throughout the country. This financial boost has produced El Dorado Promise graduates that learned in institutions that span across the country, from California to Maine. This illustrates the truly limitless opportunity that Promise scholars get through this unique program.

How The El Dorado Promise scholars can fully leverage the program

It’s important to understand the fine details of this scholarship program and how it can work for El Dorado High School graduates. The amount of scholarship money is based on the length of time a student has spent in the El Dorado School District.

Students that have spent kindergarten through high school are awarded 100 percent of the scholarship money, which is equal to the highest in-state public college or university rate.

Students who have not been in the system all 13 years will receive a prorated sum. The El Dorado Promise colleges are any accredited two- or four-year college or university in the country. The scholarship can be renewed for five consecutive years and scholars must maintain a 2.0 GPA or better and complete 12 credit hours per semester to remain eligible. The Promise has enhanced, and in some ways transformed, the educational landscape in this town, and it’s very evident when you look at the many The El Dorado Promise scholars that have been positively affected.

El Dorado Promise

2000 Wildcat Drive, El Dorado, AR 71730
For questions about the application, call The Promise Office at 870-864-5128.