PIERRE – The Build Dakota Scholarship Board has selected 300 students as recipients of the Build Dakota Scholarship for the 2016-17 school year.
Logan Effling and Thomas Hetland, both of Artesian, were recipients of the scholarship.
The scholarships cover tuition, fees, books, equipment and other related program expenses for eligible programs within eight high-need industry areas at South Dakota’s four technical institutes. Recipients were selected from a total of 1,300 applications.
The Build Dakota Scholarship program was announced in late 2014. The scholarship is funded by a $25 million donation from T. Denny Sanford and $25 million in future funds committed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard.
Build Dakota aims to support students entering high-need workforce programs at South Dakota’s technical institutes to fill the state’s technical career fields with skilled professionals. The $50 million will provide approximately 300 full scholarships annually in each of the first five years of the scholarship program. From 2020 on, an endowment will continue to award approximately 50 scholarships per year.
In-state and out-of-state students are eligible to apply. Scholarship applicants must be accepted into their program of interest. Recipients of the scholarship must enroll full-time and complete their educational program on schedule. Scholarship recipients must commit to stay in South Dakota to work in their field of study for three years following graduation.
Applications for the 2017-18 school year open in January 2017. Find more information at builddakotascholarships.com.