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| Tuesday, January 23
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MTSU Student Benefits From Lottery Scholarship |
As a sophomore in 2004, Cade received a Tennessee Lottery scholarship but said he almost didn't get it. He said, "I ended up pledging a fraternity for part of the second semester of my freshman year, and I had to stop about half way through the semester, half way through the pledge process, because I couldn't maintain my school and live that lifestyle at the same time."
A recent state report shows about two out of three Tennessee Lottery scholarship recipients loose them because of poor...
...grades. By focusing on academics in college, instead of partying, Cade has maintained his grade point average and kept his Tennessee Lottery scholarship.
“I just didn't do all the work I was supposed to at first but a lot of my teachers worked with me and they were really helpful in getting everything done that needed to get done,” he said.
Now Cade said he is an honors student, majoring in English. He's doing research at News 2 for an honors thesis he's writing for graduation. The subject is how academic writing skills translate to the professional world.
Cade said, "They tell me that they learnedmost of their skills in college that they use on the job site now."
That's good news for Cade because he's planning a career in journalism. He said the Tennessee Lottery scholarship is helping him in other ways.
"For instance I bought a car about a year ago and I make payments on my car and otherwise, I wouldn't have a vehicle if I didn't have the lottery scholarship,” he said.
Cade said having a car, allows him have a higher paying part time job off campus.
To qualify for a Tennessee Lottery scholarship, a high school graduate must have at least a 3.0 grade point average or a score of 21 on the ACT.
The Tennessee Lottery is worth $3,800 per academic year at four-year colleges. Two-year students get half that amount.
Some students struggle to keep their grades up to re-qualify for lottery money. In 2004, 63% of recipients failed to keep their scholarships. When it breaks down by race, 87% of those qualifying for scholarships are white, 8% are black.
A state lawmaker on the education committee will introduce legislation to make the program more accessible to minority and low-income students. |
posted by ^%&^
@ 8:10 AM
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