New U of U program helps students pay for college through community service
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The University of Utah launched a new, $1 million project Wednesday that intends to help students graduate on time, with less debt, and with increased career readiness.
The initiative, which launches this fall, is for students who have demonstrated a need and who have not earned merit-based scholarships, a press release from the university states. Students selected will have the opportunity to earn $5,000 in scholarships and wages by performing 120 hours of community service.
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The internship is designed to complement the Beehive State’s One Utah Service Fellowship Program, a bill Gov. Spencer Cox recently signed that provides stipends and scholarships to young adults who participate in service.
Additionally, the initiative joins a suite of internship and service programs offered by the Hinckley Institute of Politics, the Bennion Center, and U Career Success to “support students and serve the community,” the release states.
The new program will be based at the Hinkley Institute, with an initial group of 200 students throughout its first year. Morgan Lyon Cotty, associate director at the Hinkley Institute, is set to oversee the program.
With the support of state, federal, and other sources, the University of Utah anticipates expanding the program over the next three years to include 1,000 students engaging in more than 120,000 service hours annually, the release states.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the State and the Governor’s Office on this initiative,” University President Taylor Randall said. “What’s exciting about this is it allows us to attract students that care about our community, that want to serve, that want to get engaged in building what we have here in Utah, and we just want to make sure we support that and hopefully partner with our other sister institutions to roll this out statewide to all.”
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