New Orleans high schooler earns record $9M in scholarship offers from 125 colleges
A high school senior from New Orleans has been offered a record-breaking $9 million in scholarship offers from 125 colleges.
Dennis Barnes, a senior at International High School of New Orleans, applied to 200 schools across the country with some decision letters still pending, the local station WWL reported.
Barnes’ impressive scholarship offerings surpassed that of the previous Guinness World Records holder, a high schooler from Lafayette, Louisiana who collected $8.7 million in college money in 2019. Officials at his high school are now working with Guinness to confirm his feat.
But the New Orleans native isn’t done yet.
He set a goal to reach $10 million in scholarships by the end of the month as he awaits word back from more colleges, according to the station.
As acceptances poured in, Barnes said it only motivated him to reach higher.
“I submitted college applications in August, with an eye on raising the bar high for college admissions. Decision letters were an overflow in my mailbox and hundreds of scholarship offers,” he told WWL.
The senior has a GPA of 4.98 and holds leadership positions in the National Honor Society chapter at his high school and is fluent in Spanish, according to the local CBS affiliate station.
He also has been earning college credits at Southern University of New Orleans while completing his high school degree for the past two years.
Barnes is set to graduate high school on May 24 and plans to announce his college choice on May 2.
He hopes to study both computer science and criminal justice and land at a school where he’ll be comfortable and taken care of financially, he said.
Barnes’ mother told WWL that she isn’t surprised her son has so many colleges to pick from.
“I know that he has big ambitions, big goals and I believe with everything in me that he’s going to achieve all of it,” she said.
