For some students, paying for a college degree is something that can be achieved without the benefit of a college scholarship. But the shock comes when students and families begin the grim task of calculating the enormous costs associated with obtaining a degree.
In the 2013-2014 school year, the cost of attending an in-state public college averaged $23,000 and a private college averaged $45,000.1
The $1,000 Walter Harrison Scholarship can be applied to academic expenses at any accredited two- or four-year university, college or vocational-technical institute in Georgia.
Full- or part-time students who apply for the scholarship must be accepted or enrolled in an accredited undergraduate degree program, a customer of Jackson EMC or the son or daughter of a customer and a resident of the home served by Jackson EMC.
In 2015, Walter Harrison Scholarships will be awarded to nine students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance. Factors for consideration include grade point average, test scores, academic standing, scholastic honors and community involvement. A scholarship committee comprised of EMC directors and managers judge blind applications and select recipients who exceed in these areas and demonstrate a financial need.
Created in 1985 by the board of directors of Georgia EMC, the scholarship pays tribute to the late Walter Harrison, a pioneer in the rural electricity movement and a leader at local, state and national levels in the electric cooperative program.
Since 1985, Georgia’s electric cooperatives have awarded more than $162,000 to students through the Walter Harrison Scholarship program.
Students interested in applying should contact their high-school guidance/ counselor’s office or visit www.jacksonemc.com/scholarships for an online application and complete details. Completed application packets must be received at Jackson EMC by 5:00 p.m. on January 28, 2015.
Jackson EMC, based in northeast Georgia, is a consumer-owned cooperative providing electricity and related services to more than 215,000 members in Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Franklin, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison and Oglethorpe counties.
Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state’s 41 EMCs, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp. Collectively, Georgia’s customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to more than four million people, half of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent of the state’s land area.
