Students who graduated from Birmingham City Schools last week now are preparing for the next stage of their lives. For many, that will mean matriculating at a college or university with the help of scholarships they have earned.

Every year, high school counselors gather information on the scholarships that have been offered to seniors and the value of those awards. The numbers will rise into the summer, as offers continue to come in. As of this week, the Class of 2013 had received $22,725,554 in scholarship offers.

This number reflects hard work on the part of not only students but counselors who made sure they filled out and turned in their applications. Parents, family members and teachers also played a role in encouraging them and, in some cases, writing letters of recommendation.

Many students had multiple offers, giving them the option of selecting the school they liked best. The list of scholarship offers shows numerous students were offered more than $100,000 in awards.

The list of schools making offers includes local community colleges, small private schools, major in-state universities and out-of-state schools.

Ramsay High School has the highest number, with $6,459,544 to date.

Jackson-Olin High School seniors have been offered $5,183,860 in scholarships.

Huffman High School's new graduates have offers totaling $2,821,353.

Wenonah High School reported $2,788,253 in scholarship offers.

Parker High School's 2013 graduates have offers of $2,528,144.

Carver High School's list shows $2,159,600 in scholarship awards.

Woodlawn High School seniors received $784,800 in offers.

As a community, we are proud of the successes of our seniors and the opportunities they now have.