Murphy's $50M commitment to El Dorado

The program-along with other community-minded efforts by the company that stretch beyond the Arkansas state line-is incredibly generous; but it's the El Dorado Promise, an aggressively equal-opportunity scholarship program, drawing the most attention. The program was put in place to ensure that all El Dorado public school children have the opportunity to pursue post-secondary education. All of them.

El Dorado, Arkansas's original boomtown thanks to the 1920s oil rush, saw its population decline in recent decades. Murphy Oil set out to change that. In January 2007, the oil-weighted exploration and production company committed $50 million to the children of El Dorado in the form of the El Dorado Promise. The initiative allows graduates of El Dorado public schools the opportunity to earn college degrees tuition-free. This place-based scholarship program goes beyond academic ability and economic need. Any student graduating from El Dorado High School who has been an El Dorado public school student since at least the ninth grade is eligible. The longer the student has been an El Dorado public school student, the larger the scholarship award.

The unique program provides graduates of El Dorado High School a tuition scholarship that can be used at any accredited two- or four-year college or university in the US. The maximum amount of the Promise scholarship is based on the maximum resident tuition payable at an Arkansas public university. For 2014-2015, the highest tuition rate in the state was $7,889 for a student taking 30 credit hours per year.

Eight years since the program's implementation, the benefits to the community are apparent.

While perhaps not the next oil rush, the population of El Dorado has increased. As word about the program spreads, families are moving to the area to take advantage of the opportunity. Over 140 students have entered the city's public schools, boosting the student body to more than 4,600. In 2014, El Dorado saw its largest kindergarten class ever.

In what can likely be attributed to The El Dorado Promise-not only in its removal of some financial barriers that come with attending college, but the expanded promotion of the program by the school system to prepare students for higher education-El Dorado High School has seen an increase not only in the number of seniors attending college, but in the number of Advanced Placement (AP) course offerings and enrollment.

In the years since El Dorado Promise began, the number of high school graduating seniors attending college has grown from 60% to 81%. What's more, studies show that before reaching graduation, more El Dorado students are taking the initiative to prepare academically for post-secondary education. According to a study conducted by the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas on the impact of the program, roughly 11% of El Dorado High School students took one or more AP tests the year prior to The Promise. Since then, that number has more than doubled.

Since its inception, 1,588 students have received Promise scholarship funding. El Dorado Promise students are currently enrolled in 64 different colleges and universities and have received degrees from 37 colleges and universities throughout the US. This year, with The Class of 2015, 246 more seniors will start college with the help of the El Dorado Promise Scholarship.