Communities Retaining Youth - PA Town Funds Higher Education

Robert Frost once described education as "hanging around until you've caught on." Thanks to a generous scholarship program linking high school graduates with the local community college, many more young people will have that chance in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

In 2002, a foundation started by John E. Morgan, whose knitwear manufacturing company was one of the few large businesses to spring up out of Tamaqua since the decline of coal production there, agreed to cover two years of tuition at Lehigh Carbon Community College for graduates of Tamaqua Senior High School.The stipulations are few: eligible candidates must have attended the high school for two consecutive years before graduation, file a federal student aid application, and enroll in at least nine college credit hours per semester.

Morgan's effort has now become the community's, inspiring another similar donation building on top of the original.

Morgan's gift has now inspired a copycat, to the benefit of Tamaqua's students. The Scheller family, which has an aluminum coatings manufacturing company and donates generously in the region, this April announced its own $1.5 million endowed scholarship program that aims to pay for Lehigh Carbon Community College students’ next two years of schooling at certain four-year institutions in the state. Roberta and Ernest Scheller announced the endowment and dedicated the half-million dollar firehouse-turned-student center on the same day, in honor of their daughter, Lisa Jane, an alumna of LCCC and now the CEO of the family's company.

The two scholarships together permit students to finish bachelor degrees at regional state universities, like Bloomsburg or Kutztown.

Congress advanced education and the public good with passage of the Serve America Act, which strengthens the bond between service and education. But programs like these represent what else might be needed. Yes, I believe the federal government can support and implement education-improving programs effectively, but perhaps an effort to strategically create these locally-focused scholarship programs across the country has its place too.

Sarah's post yesterday was correct -- we need to bring education in this country into the 21st Century. But while we're doing that, we should keep an eye on access to higher education, which has continued to be problematic for low-income students. In improving access, we should review win-win situations that not only improve education, but rewarding the communities supporting educational institutions as well. Tamaqua, Pennsylvania's program is a great example of this, providing underrepresented students with an opportunity to get that crucial college degree while settling in their home region.