Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Search / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

A Proposed Funding Solution For The Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

The Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program is a wonderful opportunity for some of the brightest and most motivated students in the state to get together and try out the college experience during the summer between their Junior and Senior years of high school.  This summer, one thousand students were supposed to participate in the Governor’s Scholars Program at three different universities in Kentucky.  However, since the program is funded primarily through state tax money, and since the state budget is very tight this year, it appears that the number of students participating in the program will have to be reduced.  I would like to suggest that, instead of looking at this situation as a problem, the state should consider it to be an opportunity for creative funding solutions that will actually make the program more effective at achieving its goals.

The main goal of the Governor’s Scholars program is to try to keep these bright, ambitious students in the state, where they can become the leaders in their chosen career fields, and what is most likely to persuade them to remain in Kentucky after they graduate from college is a good career opportunity.  Why not have a “career day” as part of the Governor’s Scholars program, with participating Kentucky businesses paying a sponsorship fee in order to have the opportunity to meet and make personal contact with these students?  With the permission of the students, the businesses could have access to their high school transcripts, SAT or ACT scores, career interests, and maybe even their entire Governor’s Scholars application in order to allow the businesses to match themselves up with the students in whom they would have the greatest interest.  The businesses might give the students ideas about career opportunities, make suggestions for fields of study in college, and even offer them summer internship opportunities.  Both the businesses and the students would benefit from this opportunity to get to know each other at this stage in the student’s life. 

It is hard to imagine a more efficient way for businesses to make personal contact with such a fine group of potential employees.  Both from a recruiting standpoint and from a good will and advertising standpoint, there should be many Kentucky businesses that would be willing to pay a sponsorship fee in order to participate in such a program.  If it works out, then the Governor’s Scholars program might eventually become entirely privately funded and might even be able to expand to serve more students.    

I must confess that my interest in this situation is not entirely theoretical, since our daughter Nina is one of the finalists for the Governor’s Scholars program this year.  We would love for her to have the opportunity to participate in the program this summer, and we are even more interested than the state revenue cabinet in having her live and work in Kentucky after she finishes college!  Nina is interested in a wide range of subjects and career options, from engineering to music, from foreign languages and economics to special effects and computer animation, and it would be wonderful for her to be able to meet with representatives from a variety of Kentucky businesses at this stage of her life, before she has chosen a college major or a career path.  The contact with representatives from various types of businesses might give her many good ideas about what to study in college.  Also, the opportunity for summer internships, where she could obtain valuable experience, make good contacts, and learn about business from the inside, would be fantastic. 

If the state really wants the Governor’s Scholars Program to be an avenue for keeping our best and brightest students in Kentucky, then the current budget shortfall could turn out to be a golden opportunity for the benefit of the participating students, the taxpayers, and the state’s economy.

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest / Search / White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN