Yuma News Now

Nogales, Arizona - University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton was joined by U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva at the UA’s College Planning Session for families in Santa Cruz County on Thursday night. Middle and high school students and their families from throughout Santa Cruz attended the event, which took place at the Nogales High School auditorium.

Socorro Carrizosa of the UA’s Chicano Hispano Student Affairs also addressed the audience of more than 100 students and parents. “You have put us on notice - that the education of your children is important to you as are the actions and plans of this University,” Carrizosa told the families in attendance.

Shelton’s primary message was to reinforce the UA’s commitment to accessibility of a high-quality college education. He also introduced the families to the UA’s new Arizona Assurance program.

“Arizona Assurance makes sure that the UA is not the University of Tucson and that it is accessible to the students of Santa Cruz County,” Shelton said.

Arizona Assurance is making the dream of a college education come true for hundreds of Arizona students who may have considered college beyond their financial reach.

The new program assures students from Arizona families earning annual incomes of $42,400 or less now have the opportunity to graduate in four years, debt free.

The program combines federal aid and grant funds provided by generous UA donors with income that each Arizona Assurance scholar earns from a commitment to work a federal work-study job to cover all of the essential costs of attending the UA.

Shelton also spoke about the outreach efforts for college preparation currently taking place in Santa Cruz County, including high school-to-college programs in math, engineering and science, as well as programs geared for parents and resources available through UA South.

Grijalva also reinforced the message of an accessible education. Shelton thanked Grijalva for being “a tireless leader who has worked to amend and extend the Higher Education Act making a college education more accessible and affordable to students.”

Grijalva said that education was important to his parents, which he passed on to his family. “It is up to the community to assure the quality of life for its own community through education, and Santa Cruz County has shown that commitment and continues to show it by being here,” Grijalva said.

The College Planning Session included a question-and-answer session with Grijalva and Shelton, and a small group discussion about UA admission requirements and financial aid - facilitated by the UA Outreach College, Office of Admissions and Office of Early Academic Outreach.

Community leaders in attendance included representatives from the Santa Cruz County Unified School District, the Nogales Unified School District, Nogales High School principal Mark Valenzuela and Rio Rico High School principal Francisco Javier Fuentes.