Seventh Consecutive Year of Support; The Hartford Awards $362,000 in Scholarships to City High School Seniors

HARTFORD, Conn., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hard work, determination, and good grades have paid off for 19 city of Hartford high school seniors. Their dreams of a college education will soon come true, due in part to $362,000 in four-year scholarships from The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.

Recipients of the company's two annual college scholarship programs -- the Alliance for Academic Achievement Scholarship and the STAG Leadership Scholarship -- are being honored today at a ceremony at The Hartford's world headquarters. The scholarship winners typically rank in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

"These scholarships are designed to provide exceptional students with the financial, academic and emotional support they need to thrive at a world-class college and then start a professional career," said The Hartford's Chairman and CEO Ramani Ayer. "We at The Hartford are proud to help these students make their dream of a college degree a reality."

Fifteen college-bound seniors were awarded the Alliance scholarship, which offers $5,000 in financial aid annually. Three seniors have received the STAG Leadership scholarship, which provides $3,500 in financial aid annually. Both scholarship programs provide four years of financial aid, summer employment, mentoring and life skills courses.

In addition, a new $5,000 scholarship is being awarded for the first time. The Frahm Scholarship Award, earmarked for a student attending the University of Hartford, will go to a Bulkeley high school senior.

The Alliance for Academic Achievement, now in its seventh year, was established in partnership with Trinity College, the University of Connecticut and Howard University for top-ranking Hartford students who have been accepted at one of the three schools. Students from Bulkeley, Hartford Public, Sport and Medical Sciences Academy, Weaver, Hartford Classical Magnet School, and A.I. Prince Technical High School are eligible. Since the program's inception, The Hartford has awarded 86 Alliance scholarships to city graduates, including this year's recipients. Thirty students from the program now have their college degrees.

The Hartford established its STAG Leadership scholarship in 2003 for students who participate in the company's 39-year-old internship program that combines summer and after-school employment, classroom training, and mentoring for high school juniors and seniors. Since 1966, more than 1,600 high school students, primarily from Hartford's inner city neighborhoods, have gained valuable job experience through the student intern program STAG: Successful Training -- Achieving Goals. Currently, 20 STAG high school students work in the company's Hartford headquarters. The Hartford established the STAG Leadership Scholarship to help its young employees finance tuition costs at a college of their choosing.

"We hope that because of these scholarship programs, our interns will become interested in the financial services industry and perhaps even return to The Hartford at the end of their college careers as full-time employees," said Lynda Godkin, The Hartford's senior vice president of state and community relations.

The 2005 Alliance scholars include five upcoming graduates of Hartford Public High School: Erickson Diaz, who is attending UConn this fall; Jessica Wright, Alexis Valle, and O'Rayan Velarde, who will all enroll at Trinity; and Amaris Noble who will enter Howard.

Recipients from Bulkeley High's senior class are Nida Kazmi, who will attend UConn; Rachel Elkey and Natalie Collier, who will enter Howard University; and Yuk Shan-Li, who is enrolled at Trinity in the fall.

From one of Hartford's magnet high schools, the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy, recipients are Patricia Torres, Ariel Vega, and Christopher Shanghie, all bound for UConn.

Weaver High scholarship winners are Sasha-Gaye Binnie and Shellon Charles, who both matriculate to UConn.

Alicia Rosado, who will attend UConn, is a scholarship winner from A.I. Prince Technical High School.

The 2005 STAG Leadership Scholarship winners are A.I. Prince Vocational Tech's Reva Ross, who will attend St. Joseph's College in West Hartford; Jessica Baez, from the Greater Hartford Classical Magnet High School, who will enter Central Connecticut State University; and Onika Quinn, a student at Weaver High School who matriculates to Manhattan College.

The first recipient of the new Frahm Scholarship Award is Eliana Cardeno, a Bulkeley High School student.

The Alliance for Academic Achievement and STAG Leadership scholarships are among the many components of The Hartford's long-term commitment to help the city of Hartford develop a world-class education system for its residents. As part of its focus on public K-12 education, The Hartford has partnerships with the schools in its Asylum Hill neighborhood -- West Middle Elementary School, Quirk Middle School and Hartford Public High School -- with the strategic goal of helping ensure that by the year 2010 all city high school graduates are academically prepared for college. In 2004 The Hartford contributed more than $2 million to programs that support local public education.

The Hartford is one of the nation's largest financial services and insurance companies, with 2004 revenues of $22.7 billion. The company is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property-casualty insurance. The Hartford's Internet address is http://www.thehartford.com.

Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2004 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.

Contact(s): Victoria Gallant Sue Honeyman 860-547-4938 860-547-4976 victoria.gallant@thehartford.com shoneyman@thehartford.com