For incoming freshman Jakob Summerville, a senior from Skiatook High School, being a first-generation college student represents progress for his family.
Rogers State University’s Residential Life will offer a $1,000 per semester housing waiver for Oklahoma Promise scholarship students, supporting the university’s mission to provide attainable higher education opportunities for first-generation students in northeastern Oklahoma.
RSU Residential Life offers full-time students modern living spaces. Living in a student community enhances the learning process and better prepares the individual for the real world.
“Our goal is to increase the number of Oklahomans with a college degree. Students have a greater opportunity for growth and success when they are close to classes, campus activities and campus resources,” RSU President Dr. Larry Rice said. “This waiver opportunity ensures our Oklahoma’s Promise students successfully graduate with their degree.”
Oklahoma’s Promise allows 8th, 9th or 10th grade students from families with an income of $55,000 or less to earn a college tuition scholarship. The program, administered by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, was created in 1992 by legislature to help more Oklahoma families send their children to college.
More than 60 percent of RSU’s freshman class are first-generation students who are navigating the college experience on their own. For incoming freshman Jakob Summerville, a senior from Skiatook High School, being a first-generation college student represents progress for his family.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to attend college successfully without assistance. My family struggles were too great. It has been difficult being the first one in my family to navigate the admissions and enrollment process, but because of the Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship along with my hard work and dedication for the past four years, I will be a success story for our family,” Summerville said.
Last year, RSU was awarded a five-year federally funded grant by the United States Department of Education to support and serve first-generation, financially disadvantaged students. The Student Support Services grant provides academic advising, counseling, financial and economic literacy, tutoring and coaching for students whose parents did not earn a four-year degree.
“The Student Support Services program is an additional, vital resource for our first-generation students. It brings real world deliverables to our students that will ensure both academic and personal success,” Dr. Susan Bedwell, program director for TRiO Program’s Education Opportunity Center, said.
RSU is the only public four-year university in the Tulsa metro with on-campus housing.
“I want to be part of a campus community, and RSU offers the full college experience. The scholarship and housing waiver will help me fund my future. It is possible to earn a college degree, and I can do anything I set my mind to. I look forward to the fall and the bright future ahead of me,” Summerville said.
RSU offers bachelor’s and associate degree programs in Oklahoma’s top 10 fastest growing industries, including healthcare, business administration, applied technology, psychology and sociology, communications, humanities, criminal justice, nursing, esports, game development and environmental conservation. RSU also offers graduate education through its Master of Business Administration, available entirely online at one of the most affordable rates in the region.
Admission for the upcoming Fall 2021 semester is underway. Classes begin August 16. For more information about Oklahoma’s Promise, visit www.rsu.edu/okpromise.