Janet Lebeda, the interim executive director of Cooperative Education at Wayne State College, said the Career Scholars program, also known as Growing Together, serves as educational stepping stones for WSC students.
The Cooperative Education Program supports businesses and economic development in Northeast Nebraska, whilst keeping young talent in the work force. Members of this program don’t need to be from the Northeast Nebraska, but students do need to have an ACT score of 18 and enter WSC with one of the eligible fields of study listed. Some of these paths include business administration, computer information systems, education and many more.
The Growing Together program started in 2020, which made the Career Scholars of the Class of 2024 the first to start graduate from the program.
To form the program, funds came from state support and funding towards building a bigger workforce in certain areas that are in high demand. The program also has partnerships from the Growing Together initiative.
This is a huge passion project for Marysz Rames, the president of WSC. “This program could not be where or what it is today without our entire institution coming together.” Lebeda said.
Recently, there have been some changes within the program. The first was the program received an anonymous donation of $2.6 million.
Previous students received about $24,000 in scholarships over four years. Beginning with the Class of 2028, Career Scholars will receive $33,000 over the course of four years. During freshman year students are eligible to receive up to $5,000, up to $6,000 sophomore year, up to $7000 junior year and in their senior year, receive $5,000 towards tuition and up to $10,000 towards housing.
This program has specifically built housing in Norfolk and Grand Island, Nebraska. Students in this program will spend their freshman through their junior years completing an accelerated program of their major and then spend their senior year interning with a business in the students’ chosen direct field while still receiving college credit.
With the Class of 2028 having the largest intake of students in the program, there has been some rearranging how the staff of the program work directly with each student. From freshman all the way through to their senior year, staff guides these students towards becoming acquainted with college and provides mentorship through the years.
