Amarillo College to launch Badger Bound scholarship for local students – KVII
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by Jose Alcala
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AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — Amarillo College is set to introduce the Badger Bound Scholarship next fall, aiming to make higher education more accessible for local students. Bob Austin, Vice President for Enrollment, said the scholarship will allow students who earn 15 dual credit hours in high school to potentially receive 45 free college credit hours.
"Those families are saving a lot of money towards a bachelor's degree, right?" said Austin. "So if you're saving money on the front end, that means that there's more money available on the back end for the student to transfer and to follow his or her dreams of a bachelor's degree."
The scholarship will cover fees and books, provided the student completes their studies within three years. The decision to create Badger Bound came after the announcement that the school's Thrive program would be discontinued.
"So Amarillo College decided to double down and say, okay, look, we need to come up with a plan that ideally is long-term and can allow us to continue to offer a promise-style scholarship that will incentivize students and families to consider starting at Amarillo College," Austin said.
The scholarship will be funded by the state. "We get special funding for all students who complete dual credit classes," said Austin. "And our plan is to align our work with this public policy change and with this funding change to use that money that we get to offset this cost."
Students residing in Amarillo College's service area, which spans nine counties, will be eligible for the scholarship.
