Nine Atlanta Public Schools students will receive four-year, full-tuition scholarships as part of the Posse Foundation’s national program that sends teams – or posses — of students from big-city school districts to top colleges and universities.

The APS students were among 60 Atlanta-area Posse Scholars honored last month worth a total of $12.6 million.

Founded in 1989 in New York, the nonprofit takes its name from a student’s comment that the one thing he didn’t have at college was his “posse” to help him over the transitional hurdles. The foundation matches high school students with 53 partner colleges and then gives seniors the chance to form a “posse” before they head off together.

The 2016 APS Posse Scholars are:

  • Nia Duncan - Booker T. Washington High School - Brandeis University
  • Lorenzo Maddox - Maynard H. Jackson High School - Brandeis University
  • Alexes Harris - South Atlanta High School - George Washington University
  • LaDeja Holt - Booker T. Washington High School - Texas A&M University
  • LaReya Brown - Maynard H. Jackson High School - Boston University
  • Augustin Jimenez - North Atlanta High School - Boston University
  • Austin Sumlin - D. M. Therrell High School - Bard College
  • Sharah Hutson - Benjamin E. Mays High School - The College of Wooster
  • Gloria Murray - Carver Early College High School - The College of Wooster