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Murphy Oil pledges $50M in scholarships
By JILL ZEMAN Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
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EL DORADO, Ark. — In an effort to promote the importance of a college education, and perhaps attract new businesses to El Dorado, Murphy Oil Corp. pledged up $50 million Monday to pay tuition costs of El Dorado High School graduates for the next 20 years.
Superintendent Bob Watson scheduled a school assembly to announce to program.
"This is a huge day. As of today, El Dorado High School graduates will have an unprecedented opportunity to continue their education," Watson said in remarks prepared for delivery. "For some students, this is life-changing. Students who have worked hard, but would not have been able to attend college because of financial limitations, now have the means to do so."
Kalamazoo, Mich., began a similar program last year but its graduates must elect to attend a public university in Michigan. El Dorado students can use the money out of state, at a level not to exceed the highest resident tuition rate at an Arkansas public university.
As of this semester, that amount was $6,010 annually.
Each student's scholarship amount is determined by how long the student attended classes in the El Dorado School District: 100 percent for someone who attended grades K-12 to 65 percent for a student who attended grades 9-12. Students in the district for less than four years are not eligible.
Murphy Oil, based at El Dorado, will put up $5 million a year for 10 years to fund the program, which is expected to take 20 years to deplete. El Dorado graduates about 250 students each year and about 65 percent of them attend a two- or four-year college.
Census figures show that Arkansas has the second-lowest percentage of college graduates in the nation — 16.7 percent, ahead of West Virginia's 14.4 percent.
About 20,500 people live at El Dorado, many of whom work either in the oil-and-gas industry or in timber operations in outlying parts of Union County. Fewer than 1-in-5 residents live below the poverty level.
"We are committed to making El Dorado a great place to live and work, and we created the Promise to further invest in El Dorado's greatest resource, our children," said Claiborne Deming, Murphy Oil's president and chief executive officer.
A company spokesman said last week the scholarship program might attract additional businesses to El Dorado, with the college tuition program a selling point for employees.
The program is effect with this spring's graduating class. Scholarship money will be paid directly to the colleges and universities.
El Dorado is 120 miles south of Little Rock, near the Louisiana border. Three-fourths of the area's residents have high school diplomas and less than 15 percent have college degrees.
By JILL ZEMAN Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
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Get section feed
Subscribe NOW
EL DORADO, Ark. — In an effort to promote the importance of a college education, and perhaps attract new businesses to El Dorado, Murphy Oil Corp. pledged up $50 million Monday to pay tuition costs of El Dorado High School graduates for the next 20 years.
Superintendent Bob Watson scheduled a school assembly to announce to program.
"This is a huge day. As of today, El Dorado High School graduates will have an unprecedented opportunity to continue their education," Watson said in remarks prepared for delivery. "For some students, this is life-changing. Students who have worked hard, but would not have been able to attend college because of financial limitations, now have the means to do so."
Kalamazoo, Mich., began a similar program last year but its graduates must elect to attend a public university in Michigan. El Dorado students can use the money out of state, at a level not to exceed the highest resident tuition rate at an Arkansas public university.
As of this semester, that amount was $6,010 annually.
Each student's scholarship amount is determined by how long the student attended classes in the El Dorado School District: 100 percent for someone who attended grades K-12 to 65 percent for a student who attended grades 9-12. Students in the district for less than four years are not eligible.
Murphy Oil, based at El Dorado, will put up $5 million a year for 10 years to fund the program, which is expected to take 20 years to deplete. El Dorado graduates about 250 students each year and about 65 percent of them attend a two- or four-year college.
Census figures show that Arkansas has the second-lowest percentage of college graduates in the nation — 16.7 percent, ahead of West Virginia's 14.4 percent.
About 20,500 people live at El Dorado, many of whom work either in the oil-and-gas industry or in timber operations in outlying parts of Union County. Fewer than 1-in-5 residents live below the poverty level.
"We are committed to making El Dorado a great place to live and work, and we created the Promise to further invest in El Dorado's greatest resource, our children," said Claiborne Deming, Murphy Oil's president and chief executive officer.
A company spokesman said last week the scholarship program might attract additional businesses to El Dorado, with the college tuition program a selling point for employees.
The program is effect with this spring's graduating class. Scholarship money will be paid directly to the colleges and universities.
El Dorado is 120 miles south of Little Rock, near the Louisiana border. Three-fourths of the area's residents have high school diplomas and less than 15 percent have college degrees.
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