Bright Futures celebrates six Park City college graduates at ranch event

Six former Park City students came back to town Saturday for a Bright Futures celebration at Whedon Family Ranch, marking a milestone that the Park City Education Foundation program measures in more than applause: about $2,750 in annual need-based aid per student, a $1,000 scholarship and emergency help when an unexpected expense could knock a student off track.

Bright Futures was built to help low-income, first-generation students get to and through college, not just get accepted. Park City High School materials say the program also provides one-on-one coaching, college readiness programming and a peer network, a combination meant to keep students enrolled long after the admissions letter arrives. As of this spring, the program had walked alongside about 200 students over nine years and supported 25 to college graduation, a roughly 64% graduation rate. That compares with about 60% for college entrants overall and about 24% for first-generation students nationally.

The program has also been changing at Park City High School. For the 2025-26 school year, every first-generation student at the school could opt in, and about 210 students were participating, supported by a new counselor role focused on Bright Futures students. Pepper Elliot holds that job, and the counseling shift has given the foundation a more visible presence inside the school day. Ingrid Whitley, who became president and CEO of the Park City Education Foundation in early 2024 after a nationwide search, has overseen the expansion.

The broader model has not been without friction. Some longtime donors and founders objected to widening the program, arguing it could dilute support for the students Bright Futures was built to serve, while saying they had helped raise more than $3 million for the effort. But Saturday’s ranch gathering put the emphasis back on the payoff: six Park City graduates back home, degrees in hand, and a local program still trying to turn first-generation enrollment into college completion.