The Rotary Club of Hopkinsville heard an update on how the Rotary Scholars program is impacting local students at Hopkinsville Community College.
Julie Hyams is the Director of Academic Program Facilitation and oversees the Rotary Scholars program—speaking with the Rotary Club itself recently, she says 201 students were eligible for the program in the fall of 2021, and 64 percent of them received financial assistance.
They’ve served roughly 1,600 Rotary Scholars since the fall of 2012. While every student who attends HCC who also attended school in Christian County could be a Rotary scholar, it requires a little more than that to be eligible.
One thing she would like to see is better outreach to students themselves, so they are aware of the Rotary Scholars program and that they can benefit from it.
Hyams also highlighted what those Rotary Scholars are doing after they leave HCC, with many of them furthering their education at other institutes while others enter the workforce. She says there also beginning a study into the 43 percent of scholars who end up leaving the program but not finishing their credentials at HCC by losing their eligibility in some fashion.
They’ll report that data back to Rotary, but they’ll also use to it to see if there are ways, they can further help those students finish their students at the community college.