"Your college tuition, your room and board, books and fees will be paid for and you will go to college for free," announced Pete Kadens, Founder and Co-Chair Hope Chicago
[Ads /]
Hope Chicago, a non-profit that raises funding for college tuition for Chicago Public School graduates made the announcement at Benito Juarez Community Academy.
All of the high school students will receive fully-funded scholarships at one of Hope Chicago's 20 partner colleges, universities or other education programs across the state of Illinois.
This is the first in a series of surprise events. Four other CPS schools will hear the same news this week.
That means a total of 4,000 students will receive debt-free scholarships.
Governor Pritzker was on hand for the event and joined in on the excitement.
[Ads /]
"First of all, oh my God!" exclaimed Pritzker. "In Illinois, for those who go to college, the average debt load when you get out of college, when you graduate is $28,000, you're saddled with $28,000 of debt. You won't be."
Hope Chicago is led by former CPS Janice Jackson, who was waving a huge check on stage and celebrating with the recipients of the scholarships and their parents.
The non-profit hopes to raise and invest one-billion dollars in scholarships and other support over the next decade for Chicago students and their parents.
This round of funding totaled $40 million from private donations.
"We were trying our best to save as much as we could when I was little," said senior Anabel Limon-Torres. "But now it's like we were worrying for nothing. But it's like a really happy day for everyone."