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12/8/10

MIKE MARTINDALE
The Detroit News

Pontiac - A state-created college fund for Pontiac High School students has enough money to provide two years' worth of college for every qualified graduate over the next two years, organizers of the effort said Tuesday.

More than 200 students in the Pontiac district have been invited to attend a formal announcement Thursday at Oakland Community College on Featherstone in Auburn Hills.

Over the past year and a half, the Pontiac Promise Zone Authority has raised nearly $750,000 - partly through fund-raisers and the rest through capturing a portion of taxes within the school district, said Teresa A. Rodges, executive director of the POH Riley Foundation. The foundation has raised more than $300,000 through several activities to benefit the program.

"This guarantees that there will be enough money to finance the first two years of a college education for every Pontiac High School graduate over the next two years," she said.

Pontiac graduated 444 seniors last year, 178 of whom who attended college, Rodges said. A year's college tuition at Oakland Community College is about $2,070, she said, but students can apply to any school in Michigan.

Rodges said students needing financial help would first apply for Pell grants and other educational assistance and that the Promise Zone program will make up any difference.

The program is expected to begin in fall 2011.

The Promise Zone program was made possible by legislation sponsored by state Rep. Tim Melton, D-Auburn Hills, and passed by the state Legislature in early 2009. The act permits the creation of up to 10 promise zone authorities around the state. The zones are in communities that meet or exceed Michigan's average poverty level for families with children younger than 18.

The zones are able to capture one-half of the growth in the state education tax to support local efforts to provide college education to K-12 students residing within the zone. Authorities seeking the designation must receive approval from the state Department of Treasury before they can begin capturing the tax.