Mississippi State, MEC partner on new scholarship program

STARKVILLE — A new scholarship program has formed representing a partnership between Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Economic Council’s Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program.

“Today I am very pleased to announce that Mississippi State University will offer a scholarship worth $6,000 to every STAR student in Mississippi,” MSU president Mark Keenum said. “The Mississippi State STAR Student Scholarship will be awarded in addition to any other scholarship offers these outstanding students have from our university.”

The scholarship targets the state’s most academically talented students. STAR students have a minimum ACT of 25 and minimum high school grade average of 93.

According to MSU, it is the state’s first university to create a scholarship for all Mississippi STAR Students.

Keenum stressed that the new scholarship would augment existing scholarship opportunities for the state’s top students.

“Based on the ACT score and grade point average criteria for the STAR designation, and the criteria for our Freshman Academic Scholarships, we expect that each of these students will already be eligible for scholarships at Mississippi State ranging from $12,000 to $34,000, in addition to the $6,000 STAR Student Scholarship,” he said.

“This provides another important recognition of these students’ superior achievement,” said Blake Wilson, president and CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council. “Mississippi State today has helped send a signal to these students we want them to continue to achieve without leaving our borders.”