Gov. Jim Doyle announced the first awards under the Wisconsin Covenant program on Friday. He said the grants will be available only to students who show financial need, generally those from families making roughly $30,000 a year or less.

"I know that there are thousand of students working hard out there every day to fulfill their half of the Covenant pledge and with the help of the Wisconsin Covenant Foundation and others, we are going to help make college a reality," Doyle said.

Wisconsin Covenant Foundation Board Chairman Dick George said the purpose of announcing the grants now is to provide those students who are currently high school juniors extra motivation to complete the pledge and attend college.

"These grants are designed to help hard-working students realize that college is possible regardless of their family’s economic situation," George said.

Another 25 sophomores and an unknown number of freshmen from Baraboo who signed the pledge could still be eligible for additional state and private money, which will be awarded later to help qualifying students pay for college.

The program was first formed in 2006 to encourage Wisconsin students to plan early for higher education. Students can sign a pledge as early as eighth grade to maintain a "B" average, take rigorous college-preparatory classes, and participate in community service activities. In exchange, the students will be guaranteed a place at a Wisconsin institute of higher education, and students with demonstrated need will be given financial aid.

The governor’s office reported Monday that more than 50,000 students statewide have signed the pledge since the program’s inception.

Paul Anderson, a counselor at Jack Young Middle School, said having actual students receive funds from the program in the coming years would boost its motivational value.

Currently, he said, the Covenant is just one of many programs his department discusses with students at the middle school when beginning to "plant the seeds" of career and education planning.

Having concrete information about successful students, such as their extracurricular activities, their grades, and other data to use as an example, might give younger students a better idea of how to succeed, he said.

"(The program) might open up a percentage of students’ eyes and as they continued to be reminded of that ... I think it becomes more of a reality for students as they go through high school."

Baraboo High School counselor Ann Renn said it was early yet to tell whether the program would boost access for students.

"We just need the solid information from the kids once they get out," she said. "We’ll really just have to wait and see how motivating is this for kids, once they get to this point where they’re looking at their post-secondary options."

Based on past surveys of graduating seniors, Renn said, about 55 percent of Baraboo students went on to four-year colleges or similar programs. Another 25 percent enrolled at technical colleges, and about 20 percent went straight to the workforce, the military, or another option.

Renn said to some degree, Baraboo students might already be fulfilling the requirements of the program without having signed the pledge.

"So many of our kids are lucky to be in a small community, that so many of these goals are things these kids already do," she said. "They are good students, they are preparing themselves for higher education, they are good citizens.

"A lot of our students will make it."

She said the program’s policy of guaranteed admission to Wisconsin schools, including some private partners, would provide much peace of mind for students who were doing well, but still nervous about college applications.

"There’s always that fear that they’re competing against every other college-bound student in the United States to come to that school," she said.

Renn said the program was a "unique partnership" between the state, higher educational institutions, and the school districts.

"We’re all supporting the kids who are in school right now and supporting their educational goals," she said. "It seems everyone now is on the same boat together."