North Jefferson County graduating seniors have set the bar much higher for future classes.

Gardendale High School and all Jefferson County schools broke all-time records for total amount of scholarship money earned this year.

“We had a good year at Gardendale High School,” said Jefferson County Board of Education member and Gardendale native Karen Smith Nix

According to Gardendale High School principal Anna Vacca, GHS students earned $3,340,247 worth of scholarships this year, spread out across 83 students and 230 different scholarships. Vacca said the total was about $200,000 more than last year’s total.

“Most students received multiple scholarships,” said Vacca. “Several of them are athletic scholarships, but for the most part they are academic.”

Other north Jefferson County senior classes are no slouch, either, says Nix; $48 million in scholarships were awarded across the county. 30 out of 60 Fultondale High School students received awards of $478, 865; students at Mortimer Jordan High School were also awarded over $100,000 in academic aid.

Vacca attributes the high total to high ACT scores; she said many of the students scored 25 or higher; the highest score possible on an ACT test is 36, but 25 or higher is considered above average.

“We’ve also been expanding our A.P. programs over the past three years,” said Vacca. “The scholarship total has been rising steadily over the past 10 years. It was about $1 million then, so it’s tripled.”

Vacca also says the new high school campus could have played a small part in the new record.

“I hasn’t hurt, for sure… It has allowed us to do more things with technology,” she said. Many of the students were able to apply for scholarships online through the school’s technology, and some are going to colleges as far away as North Carolina.