By SEN. KEN JACOBSEN

Sometimes, you have to search a lot of earth in order to find the gold nugget.

But that's exactly what happened to me several years ago when I attended the Educational Commission of the States conference.

Intrigued by one presentation touting a program called "Dollars for Scholars," I decided to see what it was all about.

I'm glad I did.

After listening to Bill Nelson, president of the national Dollars for Scholars program, describe this novel concept, I became - and remain - a staunch supporter of Dollars for Scholars.

If you're unfamiliar with it, Dollars for Scholars seeks to harness the good will and means of a community and use it to help that community's high school seniors achieve their academic potential in higher education.

Donations are collected from throughout the community to build an endowment, which then is used to issue scholarships to high school seniors to help defray college costs.

I'm not the only one who sings the program's praises.

In fact, many universities throughout the country say they will match Dollars for Scholars contributions up to $1,000 per grant - and some match up to $2,500!

The help that Dollars for Scholars chapters can provide is critical to many of our youth that aspire to higher education and the opportunities it represents.

College costs have risen 91 percent for private schools and 82 percent for public schools in the last 10 years. That far outpaces the ability of government grants and scholarships to keep up.

As a result, many worthy students are simply left behind just for the lack of resources.

Nelson said one community, Wakefield, Mass., with a population of 23,000 people, has amassed a Dollars for Scholars endowment fund of more than $5 million, out of which $475,000 a year goes to the town's high school seniors in college scholarships.

Wakefield's experience just shows how good of an idea Massachusetts dentist Irving Fradkin had 40 years ago.

Fradkin believed that if everyone in a community contributed just one dollar, then there would be enough money to provide an education to anyone who wanted one.

It's an idea gathering steam all across the country, including Washington state.

In Garfield, residents sold cheesecakes to raise money to help Eric Lynch go to Washington State University, where he is now studying computer science. He is the first member of his family to go to college.

In Seattle, the African American Dollars for Scholars chapter raised enough money to award the first Clayton Pitre Scholarship to Franklin High School graduate Teddy Daniels.

Daniels is the first Seattle student to attend Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., on a full scholarship at Jackson State. The scholarship - funded by money raised locally that is more than matched by Jackson State - is named in honor of Pitre, the president and founder of the African American Dollars for Scholars chapter in Seattle.

As a legislator, I have worked hard to firmly establish Dollars for Scholars programs in Washington.

In fact, as a result of my efforts, we last year came up with enough state money to expand the number of Dollars for Scholars chapters in the state to 250 from the existing 50 chapters. This state money, issued as $2,000 grants, will match local contributions.

Since 1987, Dollars for Scholars programs have distributed over $2.1 million to more than 3,755 Washington students.

Last year alone, Dollars for Scholars chapters raised more than $1 million and assisted 780 individual students.

While these figures seem small when compared to the multi-million dollar endowments managed by Washington colleges and universities, it is important to remember that Dollars for Scholars is a volunteer-driven grassroots organization. These programs are of the community, by the community, for the community.

Communities select their own board members, develop their own fund-raising programs and develop their own scholarship criteria.

Dollars for Scholars provides not just the money, but hope for every student.

We know the need is there. We've seen there's a will. Now all we need are the volunteers - parents, alumni, church groups - to make sure the chapters get off the ground. We encourage community grounds to consider the opportunity Dollars for Scholars represents.

This is a chance for communities to join together to help their students achieve their academic dreams. Meantime, community volunteers can feel good that their locally raised money goes even farther.

Every student who works hard and wants a college education deserves a fair chance to earn it. And everyone, whether a parent or representative of the government, business, or the local community, has a role to play in making that happen. Dollars for Scholars has a long track record of helping good students who otherwise might fall through the cracks when it comes to paying for college. Now, with some state assistance, more chapters will be able to do even more good work to help more students achieve their goals.

To form a chapter, contract Dollars for Scholars Executive Director Rick Millerick at 1-800-335-4512 or e-mail: wascholars@aol.com. State Sen. Ken Jacobsen (D-Seattle) represents the 46th District.