With
earning more than $3 million in scholarships, this year’s graduating
class at Scottsburg High School can focus on what matters after
graduation — their military careers and their college education — and
not the price tag.
By applying for scholarships and earning high
marks in his classes, senior Evan Howser was able to have a significant
portion of his college education at Purdue University paid for through
merit and local scholarships. During the Senior Awards Program at SHS on
May 13, Howser was awarded the largest local scholarship, the Dale
McNeely Scholarship, available after the Lilly Endowment Community
Scholarship.
“This scholarship is important because it is the
highest scholarship available after the Lilly. They have three awards,
one for $10,000 (the one I received); one for $8,000; and one for
$7,000. This one was especially important for me because that $10,000
will take care of approximately 10 percent of my entire college costs
for all four years,” said Howser, who will be majoring in engineering in
the fall.
In all, Howser has about $60,000 of his $100,000 education at Purdue paid for through scholarships.
Along
with Howser, senior classmate Josie Crawford will also attend Purdue
University. During the Senior Awards Program, she was awarded the Melvin
and Marjorie Garriott Memorial Scholarship, valued at $3,000.
“It
was important to apply for this scholarship because I didn't want to
end up drowning in loan debt,” Crawford said. “It still means a lot to
me because that's less I have to worry about when going to college.”
Both
Crawford and Howser submitted multiple applications for scholarships
and received about half of what they applied for, but for the amount of
time spent in applying, the return on investment was far greater.
“Students
really need to apply for scholarships because they help a lot, and it's
free money so there is no harm is applying,” Crawford said.
In
addition to Crawford and Howser’s earnings, some of their classmates
earned full-tuition scholarships through the Lilly Endowment or through
institutions based on their academic merit and community involvement.
Senior Jordan Shuler won the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship,
valued at $104,600, and senior Kaleb Mount was named an Indiana
University Wells Scholar. By being a Wells Scholar, Mount will receive
full-tuition to IU Bloomington, a one-time stipend of $10,000 for living
expenses, a one-time award of $25,000 for foreign travel, and $2,000 to
use toward a research project or an internship.