FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Many businesses are now looking to diversify their teams.
It may be getting easier to fill that gap through the nearly $3 million grant to Fort Valley State University.
"If I didn't have a scholarship I probably would not have ended up at this institution. A scholarship helped me tremendously," student Xavier Mcintyre said.
He says he's glad to go through getting a higher education with a scholarship and to be on track to graduate debt free, all while pursing a degree in STEM.
"I always was interested in STEM as a young kid and growing up I was just always strong in the math and sciences so why not come to STEM," he said.
The grant will help expand the universities Cooperative Developmental Energy Program. The goal is to provide more minority and women students the chance to graduate in STEM fields.
"Minority students...They don't have the funding. They are bright students, but sometimes they just don't have the funding to pay for college," program director Isaac J. Crumbly said.
The scholarship eases students financial worries so they can focus on the books.
"It's an academic scholarship but it pays for room and board, tuition, it pays for everything to tell you the truth," Crumbly said.
The scholarship helps students like Mcintyre go after a degree in STEM without having a heavy financial burden on their shoulders.
"To be able to exit school with no debt and 2 degrees will be something I will forever cherish," Mcintyre said.
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