MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Milwaukee Public School students earned a record amount of scholarship money during the 2017-2018 school year.

On Thursday, district officials announced nearly 900 students earned $86.2 million. In 2017, students earned $64 million.

“To see the excitement on the young people’s faces, this is a game changer for young people to have needed money to go to college,” MPS interim superintendent Keith Posley said.

The announcement marks the sixth straight year scholarship offers have increased for MPS students.

“Without the financial support that they’re giving me, I probably wouldn’t be able to pursue higher education without dying of loans,” Bay View High School senior Adamali De La Cruz said.

De La Cruz earned $29,000 in scholarship money and plans to attend Marquette University.