Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and AT&T Inc. kicked off the second year of the Mayor's Intern Fellows program on Monday by encouraging more companies and organizations to step up to provide positions for the students.

Young people are often urged to pursue higher education simply because a college graduate earns more money. There are numerous charts illustrating the stark income gap between a person with a high school diploma and one who holds a college degree.

$300,000 to Education is Freedom to provide scholarship assistance to help qualifying students pay tuition, fees, and other education-related expenses which are not covered by other scholarships or grants.

They are some of the top students from Dallas inner-city high schools, yet when asked about their career goals, their ideas don’t go much beyond “cut hair” and “play sports.”

Standing in front of Madison High School near Fair Park, Mayor Tom Leppert announced Thursday a new scholarship fund for disadvantaged students at three Dallas high schools.