EDGE 21 promotes 21st Century Scholars in Putnam County

Monday, June 10, 2019

A new organization was formed this spring in hopes of making a college education more attainable for the students of Putnam County.

EDGE 21 began to support school initiatives to increase the number of kids entering the 21st Century Scholars program.

A statewide program, 21st Century Scholars is a scholarship that provides free tuition to Indiana vocational schools and colleges.

Qualification is based on a combination of income factors as well as what the student must do to complete the program. These steps include achieving good grades and citizenship along with completing certain tasks between eighth grade and graduation that will help them prepare for post-high school coursework.

While several hundred local students have earned the scholarship since 1990, there are many eligible students who don’t take advantage of it.

The EDGE 21 group’s vision is to “engage families to be 21st Century Scholars.” To that end, organizers are supporting Putnam County school leaders and families to encourage greater participation.

The value of the scholarship is up to $100,000 per student, according to tuition costs and other factors. For a student attending Ivy Tech, where in-state tuition is $4,100 per year, the value came be more than $8,000 over a two-year program.

Students are eligible to enroll before June 30 of their eighth-grade year.

For more information on the program and how to enroll, visit www.scholars.in.gov.

Anyone interested in serving as an EDGE 21 mentor or volunteer should contact Vic Hunter at vhunter@hunterbusiness.com.

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