LeBron James Providing Scholarships to Students Who Complete ‘I Promise’ Program

LeBron James has pledged to provide full scholarships for students who complete his I Promise program, giving them tuition to attend the University of Akron. The Cleveland Cavaliers star is teaming up with the university, along with his James Family Foundation, in order to give a full ride to the participating students, covering their tutition, as well as service fee costs, adding up to be at a $38,000 value. There’s no confirmation as to how many kids will be benefitting; while one source says it could be around 2,300 students, and another says 1,100.

In order for participants to reach the qualifications for the I Promise program scholarship, some of the requirements involve graduationg from an Akron public high school, standardized testing and community service criteria.

Reports also say that the first class to be eligible for the future scholarship is the class of 2021, containing students currently in the 7th grade.

During an event for students at Cedar Point in recent weeks, James spoke on the program and his inspiration behind starting it:

"It's the reason I do what I do. These students have big dreams, and I'm happy to do everything I can to help them get there. They're going to have to earn it, but I'm excited to see what these kids can accomplish knowing that college is in their futures." He continued, “It means so much because, as a kid growing up in the inner city and a lot of African-American kids, you don't really think past high school. You don't really know your future. You hear high school all the time, and you graduate high school, and then you never think past that because either it's not possible or your family's not financially stable to even be able to support a kid going to college."

James never attended college due to his recruitment to the NBA just after high school, but he did participate in many games on UA’s campus, and built a bigger connection with the school in his professional career.