Fifty incoming Mayagüez Campus students receive the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Academic Excellence Award

Fifty incoming students at the University of Puerto Rico's Mayagüez Campus (RUM) were honored this week during the twenty-second ceremony of the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Academic Excellence Award, an initiative of the Banco Popular Foundation in partnership with the College Board of Puerto Rico and Latin America that recognizes young people with the highest test scores on College Board exams across the island ¹.

Background

The award is named after Rafael Carrión, Jr., a former president of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, and was established using funds accumulated in his deferred compensation plan and savings from the bank's Employees' Credit Union, with additional donations from his children following his death on December 31, 1991 ². Since then it has become one of the island's longest-running academic honors, awarded consecutively to students who complete their senior year of high school with the highest scores in Puerto Rico on the College Board's University Admission Tests (PAA) and on two or more Advanced Level Program tests (PNA) ³. This year, of the 101 recognized students who chose to study at a UPR campus, 67 picked the University of Puerto Rico system overall, and of those, 50 specifically enrolled at the Mayagüez Campus, according to the campus itself ¹.

Among those present at the ceremony were Dr. Zayira Jordán Conde, president of the UPR system; Dr. Miguel A. Muñoz, RUM's interim chancellor; and Richard L. Carrión, chairman of the Banco Popular Foundation's Board of Trustees ¹. The interim chancellor noted that the campus is proud that so many students distinguished by their academic excellence chose the Mayagüez College to begin this important stage of their lives ¹. The ceremony also highlighted a significant number of students from the Centro Residencial de Oportunidades Educativas de Mayagüez (CROEM), the result of a collaborative agreement between that specialized public school and RUM ¹.

Facts and numbers

Over more than two decades, the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Award has recognized more than 1,907 young Puerto Ricans, representing a cumulative investment of $1.9 million by the Banco Popular Foundation ². Each awarded student has historically received $1,000 in cash along with a sculpture created by Puerto Rican artist Luis Torruella ². In the most recent cohort for which a public breakdown exists, 102 young people were recognized islandwide: 45 from public schools, 56 from private schools, and one homeschooled student ², reflecting that the selection criterion — College Board test scores — does not distinguish by school sector. Separately, the Banco Popular Foundation also annually awards the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Scholarship to children of Popular and Evertec employees; in the most recently documented cycle, 286 scholarships totaling $475,000 were awarded, a distinct but related program that also honors the banker's memory ².

What this means for you

If you have a son, daughter, or relative in high school who excels on College Board exams — whether the University Admission Test or the Advanced Level tests — this award represents a real avenue for financial recognition and university placement that does not depend on family income or the type of school the student attends. The fact that half of this year's UPR-bound honorees chose RUM specifically also confirms that the Mayagüez Campus remains a magnet for the island's top academic performers in science and engineering, which is relevant for families weighing which campus to choose.

How to do it / Checklist

1. Check with your school counselor about when the College Board's University Admission Tests (PAA) and Advanced Level Program tests (PNA) are administered during senior year of high school.
2. Request registration information ahead of time directly from the College Board of Puerto Rico and Latin America office.
3. Ask your school's Student Development or Admissions office whether they participate in the annual nomination process for the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Award.
4. If you are a Popular or Evertec employee, ask Human Resources about the requirements for the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Scholarship for employees' children, which is a separate benefit from the academic award.
5. Follow announcements from the Banco Popular Foundation and College Board toward the summer, when the new cohort of honorees is typically announced before the start of the academic year.
6. If selected, plan your enrollment at your preferred campus with enough lead time, since recognition ceremonies tend to coincide with the start of the semester.

What's next

The Banco Popular Foundation has kept the award running uninterrupted for 22 consecutive years, suggesting a twenty-third ceremony will take place during the next academic cycle, with a new cohort of students sitting for College Board exams in spring 2027. RUM, for its part, continues strengthening its collaboration agreement with CROEM, which could translate into more students from that specialized school choosing the Mayagüez Campus in coming years. For Puerto Rican families, the program remains one of the few direct financial incentives — requiring no needs-based scholarship application — that rewards academic performance exclusively as measured by standardized tests recognized across the region.

Sources: ¹ University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (RUM) ² Popular, Inc. Newsroom ³ College Board Puerto Rico and Latin America