25-05-2025
145 Southland College Prep seniors receive full college scholarships for 12th year
The Brief
For the 12th year in a row, all 145 Southland College Prep seniors received college scholarships, totaling over $52 million this year and $300 million overall.
Forty percent earned full-ride scholarships, with at least two students offered more than $1 million each from top universities.
Families and staff celebrated the class of 2025 at Harris Theater, highlighting determination and breaking stereotypes about Black student success.
RICHTON PARK, Ill. - For the 12th consecutive time, graduates from at Southland College Prep Charter High School have all been offered a college scholarship.
This comes as families and faculty members gathered to give them a send-off before their next chapter in life.
What we know
The Harris Theater was packed with family and loved ones celebrating the next generation of professionals at Southland's 2025 graduation ceremony.
Geraldine Franklin wiped away tears as she cheered on her granddaughter Julia, the senior class president.
"There is a stigma thinking that Black students can't achieve, but when you see a school with 100% students, majority Black, going to university, top universities, it warms my heart," Franklin said.
All 145 seniors in the Class of 2025 are college-bound, with scholarship offers totaling more than $52 million collectively.
Forty percent received full-ride scholarships, and at least two students were offered more than $1 million each from top universities.
One graduate spoke candidly about his journey.
"I was a bad kid, did a lot of acting up. Southland really shaped me up," one student said.
Southland College Prep CEO Blondean Davis encouraged students to stay focused.
"You can learn from any environment, you just have to put forth the effort. It's not so much academics that we're teaching although we teach that. It is the mindset and determination," Davis said.
Southland's graduating seniors have received a collective total of more than $300 million in scholarship offers.
