Scholarships offer chance at college for most high school graduates in Christian County, Kentucky

Hopkinsville and Christian County, Ky., are in a metropolitan area with Clarksville, Tenn., centered on Fort Campbell, but in the city of 30,000 a grain elevator is the tallest building. Only 13 percent of adults in the county have college degrees, but the Hopkinsville Rotary Club aims to increase that number by giving free rides to most high school graduates, reports Jennifer P. Brown of the Kentucky New Era.

"Beginning in 2012, students who finish high school with at least a 2.5 grade point average and a good attendance record will be eligible for full-tuition scholarships to attend Hopkinsville Community College," Brown writes. "This year's eighth graders will be the first to qualify for the scholarships."

Christian County has a population of about 72,000, about 24 percent black. Last year, the county's four high schools produced 550 graduates and on average about 250 to 300 go to college. The Rotary Club, which also has a long-running student loan program, said the scholarships should cost about $90,000 in the first year and $180,000 in the second. The tuition at Hopkinsville Community College is $1,380 per student per semester; the scholarship covers four consecutive semesters. The Rotary Club will add a fund-raising effort to augment its annual auction. Last year's six-day auction raised a record $306,000. (Read more; subscription required)

Rotarians said the scholarship is unique in Kentucky since it offers aid to students who "simply maintain at least average grades," Brown writes in a follow-up story. While in college, the Rotary Scholars must maintain a 3.0 grade point average in college, the same grades required for students who receive federal Pell grants.

"Supporters said it has the potential to alter the entire community by boosting the number of students who attend college," Brown writes. "The program has been called a 'carrot' for students who might otherwise finish high school with a poor grade point average." (Read more; scholarship required)

In an editorial, the Kentucky New Era calls the program "probably the most innovative and energizing idea to hit local education in years." The newspaper imagines the program could "bear many fruits" for the community such as improved high school test scores and perhaps a better educated workforce in the future. (Read more; scholarship required)