Two Nelson County students are awarded ECTC STEM scholarships
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College student Cole Livers, from Cox’s Creek, was awarded a STEM STARS ECTC Endowed Scholars’ Fund scholarship for the 2014-2015 academic year.
NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT
Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 — Nine Elizabethtown Community and Technical students — including two from Nelson County — were awarded scholarships for the 2014-2015 school year through the college’s STEM Stars program.
The STEM Stars program was introduced to recruit students with an ACT of 25 or higher in math and science. The program encourages the students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors by offering scholarship money.
“The United States has been experiencing a steady decline in STEM professionals for two decades,” said Paul Sturgeon, division chair of physical sciences and related technologies at ECTC. “That is why in 2013 ECTC began a coordinated effort to educate its service area on the need for STEM professionals.”
Nathan Hagan, an ECTC student from New Haven, has been awarded a STEM STARS Michael F. Stephens, M.D. Scholarship for the 2014-2015 academic year.
ECTC offers a variety of programs for STEM students, including transfer agreements and opportunities with the University of Kentucky College of Engineering and Western Kentucky University chemistry and Information Technology departments, among others, Sturgeon said. For example, if students graduate from ECTC with an associate in arts or associate of science degrees and have maintained 3.5 grade point averages, they can attend UK paying the same tuition they paid at ECTC, Paul Sturgeon, division chair of physical sciences and related technologies.
ECTC students can also gain research experience in certain STEM fields, such as biology and chemistry, whereas such opportunities typically only are available to upper-level students at four-year universities. The college’s STEM initiative have also included an awareness campaign, lectures, activities and scholarships for ECTC students.
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