WKYT FirstAlert Weather
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - College students from the coalfields would be eligible for special scholarships under legislation that passed the House Education Committee on Thursday.
Democratic state Rep. Leslie Combs of Pikeville, the bill's sponsor, said the scholarships of up to $6,600 a year would be available only to college juniors and seniors in one of the state's 34 coal-producing counties in eastern and western Kentucky.
Called the Kentucky Coal County College Completion Scholarship Program, the initiative is a compromise that came from a failed push last year to create a four-year public university in the Appalachian coalfields. Lawmakers saw that proposal, intended to boost the number of college graduates in the coalfields, as too expensive considering Kentucky's tight state budget.
The money for the scholarships will come from a tax on mined coal.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Current Conditions
Weather for Lexington, Kentucky
Opinion
Most Commented
powered by Disqus
Enter your number for a chance to win great prizes! Message and data rates may apply 
|
