UMSL Chancellor Tom George announces the North County Scholarship Program Friday at the 39th Chancellor’s Report to the Community. (Photo by August Jennewein)
Promising north St. Louis students will have a better chance to achieve their goals of earning a college degree through the new North County Scholarship Program. The University of Missouri System and University of Missouri–St. Louis together have dedicated $500,000 toward the program.
“The UM System remains committed to the success of St. Louis,” said UM System President Tim Wolfe. “That’s why we are partnering with UMSL, an anchor institution within north St. Louis County, to work toward helping the university’s neighbors to persevere over challenges within their school districts and communities.”
The UM System and UMSL have each committed $50,000 annually for five years for the North County Scholarship Program. Fifteen $5,000 scholarships will be rewarded each year to UMSL students who are graduates from the following districts and schools: Hazelwood, Ferguson-Florissant, Jennings, Normandy, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens, North County Christian, Incarnate Word, Lutheran North and Trinity Catholic.
The program will fund six peer mentor scholarships of $2,000 each to UMSL juniors and seniors, who will provide academic and social guidance for freshman and sophomore recipients of the North County Scholarship. All scholarship recipients also will have access to support services, including academic coaching, tutoring and retention support through the UMSL Office of Multicultural Student Services.
“The scholarship is another way in which we’re responding to the issues that affect our region,” said UMSL Chancellor Tom George, who announced the scholarship at the Chancellor’s Report to the Community. “And I really want to applaud David Farr and Emerson for their generosity and leadership in community betterment and investing in young, homegrown talent. Emerson, the UM System and UMSL are aligned in our joint mission to create positive change in north St. Louis County and make for a better St. Louis as a whole.”
The North County Scholarship Program will augment the Emerson Community Scholarship Program. In September, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Farr announced a five-year commitment of $1.5 million to provide scholarships to UMSL students from the Ferguson-Florissant, Normandy, Jennings, Hazelwood, Riverview Gardens and Ritenour school districts. Sixty scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 will be given to graduates from those local high schools with preference given to students studying business, science, math, engineering and technology-related disciplines.
“The Emerson Community Scholarship Program is an investment in our community, and we feel the return will be a stronger, better-educated work force,” said Pat Sly, executive vice president of Emerson. “Our partnership with UMSL and the UM System only strengthens that investment and creates more opportunities for the aspiring college students among our neighbors.”
Emerson is no stranger to partnering with UMSL, having contributed $1.5 million to the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Established in 2011, the program was designed to recruit, educate and provide internship opportunities for underrepresented or first-generation college students, who have graduated from St. Louis-area high schools. This month, the first two Opportunity Scholars will graduate from UMSL.
UMSL officials anticipate announcing additional scholarship matches later this year.
Media Coverage:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
