<p>The only downside of this is that the kids have to live in Wyoming. Have you ever been to Laramie? I am sure it is fine if you are from Wyoming, but I wonder how much appeal it has to OOS students.</p>
<p>Wyoming is included in the Princeton review Best 368 Colleges and Kaplans Unbiased Guide to the 331 most interesting colleges. those two books can give you good info on the University. It is well regarded with many almost LAC size classes.</p>
<p>The university is located in a small town at 7,200ft above sea level so yes that is not for everyone. Winter comes early and leaves late at that altitude. It is a great place for outdoor recreation but not much city life or urban activities unless you make the trip to Denver or Fort Collins. No question the altitude, climate, and small town limit its appeal to many.</p>
<p>Do they have a good soccer team????;)</p>
<p>Lol, if I came from Wyoming and saw that list of requirements for scholarships, I'd feel my intelligence being insulted. It's not that the "state gets it", it's that the students are underperforming compared to national averages. Other states have no way of feasibly imitating these kinds of scholarships considering how minimal the requirements are.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Point of the program is that a college education should be affordable to all. Yes even to those pesky A- and B students many programs ignore. The requirements are attainable by many and that is the whole point to the program. the program is not to establish an elite scholarship program but to get money to a large number of students. You have to throw some numbers in to be sure students can succeed in college and yes many B students succeed in college.</p>
<p>I fail to see any insult in offering this type of scholarship program to so many students unless you feel merit money is reserved for the educational elite only. Perhaps they should have called it a state Aid program so as not to offend LOL</p>
<p>it doesn't cost a dime to Wyo taxpayers. Program was funded by taxes on coal and natural gas companies. - </p>
<p>Who are consumers of coal and natural gas? Would not they be Wyo taxpayers? I am glad that Wyo taxpayers are happy to foot the tuition bills, it is their choice, we are in free country, I am very happy that my state does not promote idea of supporting "C" students thru higher education by taxing businesses.</p>
<p>Georgia's got a vaguely similar program where you get your state school tuition paid if you have at least a 3.0, as long as you keep a 3.0 or greater in college. It's funded entirely by the state lottery. When I lived in Georgia, it was the hope of many low-income kids.</p>
<p>Kentucky (the other state in which I grew up) has a multiple-tiered system like Wyoming's, but if I remember correctly, it's a bit less generous. 2.5 is the GPA cutoff for anything, and I forget what the ACT cutoff is. Like Georgia's program, it's funded by the state lottery.</p>
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Yikes! In our state it takes a 32 ACT just to be NMS Commended. And that entitles the student to exactly zip at our state universities!
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<p>I think the <em>point</em> is that you don't have to be a super-good student to start getting rewards, just a solid one.</p>
<p>Good for Wyoming. I am amazed at the attitude here that a student who is less than stellar doesn't deserve financial help/encouragement to attend college. I've never been to Wyoming but I'm guessing it's not populated by lots of millionaires. So what is wrong with offering these kids some incentive to continue their education on a higher level that may in the end benefit the state they live in? Would it be better if with no incentive to pursue higher education, they just took their high sch. diploma and got their minimum wage job or worse ended up surviving on govt. assistance? Is that what they "deserve" because they didn't make NHS in high sch?</p>
<p>In the world beyond CC, a B/C student is not considered horrible. It is average. Many of them don't have the support that is here on CC. I've known many of these kids who went on the flourish in college while some of the high sch. all-stars bombed out. Everybody is not at their peak by the age of 18. Good for Wyoming.</p>
<p>I'd guess that 99% of that oil and gas is exported to other states so the taxes are really passed on to the other users OOS. It's a major win for WY residents.</p>
<p>The money can be used at a state Community College picking up a trade or at the University. Frankly I think this is great to help get a skilled trade workforce in place as well as a 4 year degree education for many. People totally ignore that aspect. The development of the trades is so ignored in this country. Frankly the more educated we are as a country the better off we all are. This includes all students not just the elite few. </p>
<p>actually Miami, Wyo is the largest coal producing state in the country. and has huge natural gas reserves, My guess is that many in the country are helping fund this program every time they pay the electric bill. Frankly it is a brilliant idea to spread out the cost with very little impact on the state taxpayers. Remember there are only about 500,000 people in Wyoming total.</p>
<p>Wyoming will rarely compete for the very high elite student, even from in-state, so they focus on the upper half which I think is very smart for state development and a wise way to spend money. It is a blue collar state and mostly middle class. Wyoming is 6th in the nation in average income and those are oil and natural gas jobs.</p>
<p>Link:
Casper</a> Star-Tribune Online - Wyoming</p>
<p>Another reason why Wyoming can do this is that the University of Wyoming is the only 4 year college, public or private, in the entire state.</p>
<p>I believe this is a wonderful and worthwhile initiative. It is interesting to me that Wyoming ties for SECOND in the nation for percent of residents 25+ who have a high school diploma or GED United</a> States and States - R1501. Percent of People Who Have Completed High School (Includes Equivalency) , but it is 40th in the nation for percent of residents 25+ who hold a bachelor's degree United</a> States and States - R1502. Percent of People Who Have Completed a Bachelor's Degree .</p>
<p>I think the Hathaway Scholarship will help more Wyoming residents attain higher education.</p>
<p>I also agree with Drizzit that financial help for students seeking vocational education is needed.</p>
<p>The points about vocational ed and C+ students are well taken. I applaud the powers that be in Wyoming for their investment in the future. FWIW, I love the state but I mostly prefer the western part.</p>
<p>Oh, and a program such as this, if it had been available in our home state, would have moved two state U's to the top of D's list in a nanosecond!</p>
<p>Cur there are many who would have loved to see the University in Jackson or Cody. It would be much more popular than it is now that is for sure just due to location.</p>
<p>Florida's Bright Futures program (funded by the state lottery) has kept a LOT of the best and brightest in state for college, and they then tend to stay here.</p>
<p>Other states are doing the same, and I say more power to them.</p>
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Oh, and a program such as this, if it had been available in our home state, would have moved two state U's to the top of D's list in a nanosecond!
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<p>many parents and students would feel the same way. some states try their best to keep their best and brightest in the state. is there an older thread here in cc that lists those states that have similar programs to florida and wyoming.</p>
<p>I am amazed at the attitude here that a student who is less than stellar doesn't deserve financial help/encouragement to attend college.</p>
<p>Student does not need to be a "stellar" to have higher than 2.5 GPA. All they need is to do their homework every day for every subject. That does not mean attempt at doing it, but actually have it done. It will guarantee "B" or "A". One really needs higher than GPA=2.5 to be prepared for college. College student needs certain academic background and work habits to be able to keep up at college. But again, anybody is free to support "C" students if they desire to do so.</p>
<p>drizzit. I'd have been on D like a duck on a junebug had the U of Wyo been in Jackson with this program. Heck, I checked out Western State in Gunnison. Just didn't fit. "Hey, D. What about a Outdoor Recreation Major?"</p>
<p>Riding to Memphis is nice. It just ain't the same. ;)</p>
<p>What Wyoming is really indicating here is that they consider College education the new standard of education for its youth, just as High school has been the last 50 years, 6th grad was 80 years ago, 3rd grade was 120 years ago.</p>
<p>There was a time in this country (think of the series Little House on the Prairie) where education beyond 3rd grade was considered wasteful of a person's contributions to the family farm/business. The education was almost free to the students.</p>
<p>Then around the late 1940s, people began to consider a High School education as the recommended and normal route to a decent job. The education was provided at no charge to students as a matter of public policy.</p>
<p>Then, around the 1980s and forward, people began to consider that a minimum of an Associates degree (Junior College) or a College degree is the recommended and normal route to a decent job... as we are more and more a service economy. The public did NOT pay for this extra requirement.</p>
<p>What Wyoming is doing is simply paying for college in the same way that they have always paid for High School. They are conceding that a college degree is a necessary step for most people to gain and keep good jobs.</p>
<p>Don't any of you see the irony in most companies requiring college degrees from their employees, yet this extra four years of non-earning and expense is not paid by the good citizens in the same way High School was?</p>