21st Century Scholars marks 30th anniversary
Current students, alumni tout program’s benefits, opportunities
When Tom Gubbins was in the seventh grade, a guidance counselor pulled him out of class and told him to sign a form — a small action, but one that changed his life.
The form that Gubbins, now 40 and living in Crown Point, signed back then made him an applicant to be part of the 21st Century Scholars Program, which provides up to four years of undergraduate tuition to income-eligible students at participating universities and colleges in Indiana.
Without the program, Gubbins said, though he was a very motivated student, he likely wouldn’t have been able to attend college at all, much less a fouryear university like Ball State, where he graduated from in 2002.
“To be able to get the full traditional university experience, it probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise for me,” Gubbins said. “It was a life-changer.”
The program, which requires students to apply while in seventh or eighth grade, was created in 1990 and marks its 30th anniversary throughout 2020.
The program provides paid tuition, but was not designed to only be a scholarship program. It also aims to prepare high school students for success after graduation by setting expectations for students participating in the program to follow a Scholars pledge.
To follow the pledge, students must maintain a 2.5 GPA, graduate with a Core 40 diploma from an Indiana high school, pledge to remain drug- and alcohol-free and participate in college and career-readiness measures through the Scholars Success Program.
“The point, really, of getting these students to apply when they’re in seventh and eighth grade — we call it an aspiration preparation scholarship — is to ensuring they know at an early age that if they do the things that are in the scholars pledge … they know that if they work hard and do those things, the state will make sure they can afford to go to college,” said Charlee Beasor, the communications director at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
Ny’kkiale Tillman, a sophomore majoring in fine arts at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, said her sister signed her up for the program when she was in seventh grade, but the meaning of the scholarship didn’t fully set it for her until later.
“In middle school I really didn’t take it for much, because at that moment I’m maybe 10 or 12, so I’m really not acknowledging the importance of the scholarship,” Tillman said. “But once I got to high school, like maybe sophomore year, they started having the meetings, and they started telling you information about the scholarship and it kind of made me understand fully, because I did want to go to college.”
While the outcome of participation in the program is paid tuition, some students, such as Tillman, find more than just tuition benefits in being a 21st Century Scholar.
“The 21st Century advisers (at IUN) — they kind of check up on you to make sure you’re OK, and see how you’re doing in classes, like if you’re stressed or anything
you can come to them,” Tillman said. “It kind of gives me like an extra person while I’m at school to vent to, instead of just my regular adviser.”
Omar Diaz, a Purdue Northwest graduate and a current doctoral student at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, said being part of the 21st Century Scholars Program not only helped him get his degree, but it shaped his career path.
Diaz, of Hammond, worked as an adviser for 21st Century Scholars, and said through his work he discovered the need to serve scholars’ mental health needs.
“That helped motivate me into moving into mental health and furthering my career that way,” Diaz said.
Diaz, who now has an externship at the PNW Counseling Center, was signed up for the program by his parents in the seventh grade, and said knowing he was a scholar and having the promise of paid tuition helped keep him on track with his studies and kept him out of trouble, too.
“What I do think is that without 21st Century Scholars I’d have much more debt,” Diaz said. “It has allowed me to even make it this far in my education.”
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education will have several events throughout the year to highlight the successes of the program and to recognize its alumni and current scholars, such as a celebration in June and a conference in December.
Nearly 100,000 students are enrolled in the program today, ranging from seventh grade to seniors in college — and 40,000 have earned a college degree with the scholarship.
“I think it’s a tremendous program for kids that need a chance. I think that’s the biggest thing and it was tremendous for me,” Gubbins said. “I hope the program continues for years to come.”