Officials at Green Mountain College hope a new annual $200,000 scholarship will attract students who might not otherwise consider a private college or a career in sustainability.
College President Robert Allen says the school’s First in Sustainability Scholarship is targeted at high school seniors and will fully cover the winner's four-year tuition, room, board and fees.
Green Mountain College, in Poultney, has earned high marks for its green campus, sustainable agriculture program and what it calls its Environmental Liberal Arts Curriculum.
But Allen says social and economic sustainability are just as important for students to understand: “The shrinking middle class, for instance, or the nation’s widening social divide.”
“We’re focusing all our energies on empowering this next generation to focus on what we consider the really important issues facing our country and our world,” says Allen. And he says it's important the college ensure students develop the tools they need to make a living from that expertise once they graduate.
Allen hopes the new scholarship will help bring attention to that mission and encourage a wider array of students to apply to the college.
“We put this scholarship out there, a full scholarship, $200,000, mostly so there would be no barriers for anyone to applying," he says.
Green Mountain College has about 500 undergraduate students and, including room and board, costs about $50,000 a year to attend.
High school seniors who want to apply for the annual scholarship need to write an essay answering two questions focused on sustainability. The deadline is Feb. 15, 2017. One winner will be announced on April 15.
