News

BRCC to award 500 $1,000 scholarships next fall

By Bill Moss, Published: December 1, 2018

Blue Ridge Community College plans to award 500 new $1,000 scholarships totaling $500,000 to graduating seniors in Henderson and Transylvania counties starting next fall, the college announced Saturday.

IMPACT scholarships are available to students graduating from a Henderson or Transylvania County public, private, or homeschool in the 2018-19 academic year and enroll at BRCC in Fall 2019. Interested high school seniors with plans to attend Blue Ridge Community College in the fall of 2019 should visit blueridge.edu/scholarships to apply.

The scholarships are part of the Impact Campaign launched in May of 2018, which has a goal of raising $2 million by June 30, 2019. A quarter of the $2 million raised goes toward the 500 new scholarships announced Saturday. Another quarter of the funds will go toward addressing critical needs, and half the money raised, or $1 million, fully funds the Pay It Forward Endowed Chair position started by Ellen Perstein in 2006.

Blue Ridge Community College provided more than $370,000 in scholarships to students in 2017. The Board of Directors for Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation and the Board of Trustees for the College wanted to send more local students to Blue Ridge and made a commitment to increase that amount to $500,000 through the Impact Campaign.

“Our entire community benefits when we are able to remove financial barriers to higher education and training opportunities,” BRCC President Laura Leatherwood said. “We are so appreciative to our donors. They really stepped up to partner with the College to deliver on this goal.”