Reward Excellence
Commonwealth Scholarships are good for Kentucky

Kentucky's economic future is directly linked to creating a well educated workforce. If you agree, then your support of Senate Bill #21 is warranted.

Called the Commonwealth Merit Scholarship Trust Fund and modeled after the successful Hope Scholarships in Georgia, this legislation would provide a college scholarship to every Kentucky high school student who achieves a B average or better.

The student would have to maintain a B average while enrolled in a Kentucky post-secondary educational facility in order to retain the scholarship. Scholarships are available to students at state-supported colleges, universities and technical schools as well as private colleges.

Here are some facts about the Hope Scholarship in Georgia, which is entirely funded by the Georgia Lottery:

• Since 1993, 291,000 Georgia students have earned Hope Scholarships.
• More than $464 million in Hope Scholarships have been awarded since 1993.
• In 1997, 128,000 Hope Scholars were enrolled in colleges, universities and technical schools across Georgia.
• Over 95 percent of in-state freshmen at the University of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology are Hope Scholars.
• In 1998, $144 million and $48 million in scholarships were awarded to scholars attending Georgia's public colleges/technical schools and private colleges, respectively.

How would the Commonwealth Merit Scholarship Trust Fund benefit Kentucky?

• The state's brightest students will be financially encouraged to remain in Kentucky.
• Academic standards at Kentucky colleges, technical schools, and private colleges will be enhanced by the scholarships.
• Scholarship money would be reinvested by scholars into Kentucky's post-secondary education system.
• Students, upon graduation, are likely to remain in Kentucky and seek employment.
• Kentucky's workforce would be enhanced by the scholarships.

Of all the wonderful reasons to enact this exceptional scholarship program for Kentuckians, the best benefit is to teach each student that excellence will be rewarded – a basic tenet of our free enterprise system that every young American should learn.

For more information about Commonwealth Scholarships you can contact Senator Tim Shaughnessey (Louisville-D) at 800-372-7181.

Ed G. Lane is chief executive of Lane Consultants and publisher of The Lane Report.

Back to February Issue

Back to Publisher's Message Index

Copyright 1996-98, by Kentucky Business Online, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Editorial content is copyright 1998, Lane Communications Group
All editorial materials is fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without prior permission. 

Buzzword and the Buzzword balloon are registered trademarks of Buzzword, Inc.  The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.