January 17, 2019
High school seniors who enter a federally-recognized branch of military service immediately following high school graduation may now receive scholastic-based scholarships for which they qualify at East Central Community College in Decatur thanks to a recent change in policy recommended by college administration and approved by the college’s Board of Trustees.
Currently, to receive scholastic-based scholarships at East Central, such as valedictorian, salutatorian, ACT, achievement recognition, career-technical skills, and career-technical leadership, high school graduates are required to enroll as a full-time student the fall semester immediately following high school graduation.
Thus, prior to this change in college policy, a high school graduate who enlisted for military service during his/her senior year of high school was then required to attend basic training immediately following high school graduation. Therefore they were unable to enroll as a full-time student the fall semester at East Central immediately following high school graduation due to that training and he/she was no longer eligible for the ECCC scholastic-based scholarships for which they initially qualified.
With this approved policy change effective January 2019, a high school graduate entering military service and unable to enroll as a full-time student at East Central due to verified and documented military training orders the fall semester immediately following high school graduation will now be eligible for the institution’s scholastic-based scholarships for which he/she qualifies as long as he/she enrolls at East Central as a full-time student the semester immediately following completion of their documented military training obligation. Normally, that would be the subsequent spring semester.
This new policy does not allow students who enroll at other colleges or universities immediately following high school graduation to transfer to East Central and receive scholastic-based scholarships for which they initially qualified.
College President Dr. Billy Stewart said, “Like other colleges and universities, East Central’s scholastic-based scholarships are designed to serve as an incentive for students to enroll full-time at our institution immediately following high school graduation. Over the past few years, we have found that some high school graduates planned to do just that, however, due to their desire to enter military service and the subsequent timing of their training obligation, they were unable to meet the basic requirement. We simply wanted to address that particular situation with this policy change.
“We are pleased to be able to offer these scholarship opportunities to our future students who have chosen to serve our nation. East Central has a strong commitment to our country’s men and women in the military and we are proud to assist military personnel in meeting their educational goals.”
For more information on available scholarships or the new waiver policy for high school graduates entering military service, contact Dr. Randall Lee, vice president for student services, at 601-635-6375.
