Editorial: Scholarships will promote diversity

In the fall of 2009, Virginia Tech will introduce a new set of scholarships to approximately 50 new students. Aimed at allowing lower income Virginia residents the ability to attend Tech, the scholarships will supply up to $55,000 per recipient, with the ability to renew in subsequent years.

Unlike other minority-directed university scholarships, the new funding does not target the specific gender, race, ethnicity or interests of its applicants.

The goal is simply to draw in more students that may not have otherwise applied to Tech without such assistance.

The funds offered by Tech could not have come at a better time. From higher gas prices to increased grocery costs, everyone is feeling the pinch in their pockets, regardless of race or gender.

The new funding also provides great incentive for anyone to apply to Tech, regardless of their own socioeconomic status.

College costs have worried parents and students from day one, and the assistance offered by the grants will ease more of these worries for students who never thought they could afford higher education in the first place.

With so many businesses hiring only the most competitive of candidates, Tech's new funding will likely help several students in the often all-too-challenging job hunt post-college as well. Since the aid targets applicants who are "academically talented" according to Tech's press release, the new scholarships will fund bright students, building a pathway to lucrative future jobs.

Perhaps the greatest advantage the new scholarships will bring can be found in their own feelings of accomplishment. It is likely several of the future recipients will become the first in their family to earn a college degree. This is not only a triumph for the individual student, but a possible pattern set into motion for future family members to follow.

While the new scholarships will provide several advantages to future students, the challenge of receiving funding in the first place could prove difficult. Only 50 funding offers are projected for the initial set of 2009 scholarships, leaving out many who have already exhibited exceptional promise.

The scholarships will afford opportunities to lower income students that may previously have appeared out of reach. Even if the program will not cover 100 percent of each recipient's needs, this is certainly a step in the right direction, and one that will enhance the diversity of students at Tech in more than one way.