Frankfort, KY — Governor Steve Beshear today authorized the use of more than $4 million of coal severance funds for college scholarships at several colleges and universities in coal-producing areas of the state over the next two years.
The pilot project, called the Kentucky Coal County College Completion Scholarship Program, will be available beginning July 1 to college juniors and seniors and non-traditional students seeking to complete their degrees.
The pilot project is modeled after House Bill 260, which was passed by the House of Representatives of the 2012 General Assembly, but not enacted.
The grant will provide $2,050,000 in Fiscal Year 2013 and $2,250,000 in Fiscal Year 2014 for scholarships.
Eligible students must be graduates or GED recipients from one of nine counties: Bell, Floyd, Harlan, Johnson, Knott, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin and Pike. The authorization provides that students who apply must have earned at least 60 credit hours toward a bachelor’s degree, be in good standing with their school, and be enrolled in at least six credit hours. Students must also seek all available state and federal aid. The individual scholarship amounts will be determined by the school’s base tuition and fees as well as the student’s existing scholarships and financial aid.
The scholarships will benefit students attending the main campuses of the University of Pikeville (UPIKE) and Alice Lloyd College, or the extension campuses of Morehead State University (Prestonsburg), Lincoln Memorial University, Lindsey Wilson College and UPIKE.
The grant will also provide a limited amount of funding for infrastructure improvements for interactive classrooms on Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) campuses to increase access to distance learning in the region.
Multi-County Local Government Economic Development Funds (LGEDF)/Coal Severance Funds are a portion of coal severance taxes set aside to fund projects benefiting two or more coal-producing counties and are administered through the Department for Local Government.
The Pike County and Knott County Fiscal Courts submitted the application for the two-year pilot project.
In December, Gov. Beshear authorized a study of the feasibility of adding the UPIKE to the state’s university system. That report, submitted in March, confirmed that there are unmet educational needs in southeastern Kentucky and its recommendations supported an initiative utilizing severance tax revenues to expand access and enrollment to higher education in that region.