WICHITA, KANSAS- On December 4, 2019, the Student Senate of Wichita State University approved the establishment and funding of the McKinney-Vento Scholarship by unanimous vote. This scholarship was presented two weeks prior and had been in progress with Financial Aid and SGA since the summer.
The need for scholarships pertaining specifically to students dealing with homelessness is very prevalent. In fact, nationwide, 9% of undergraduate college students report being homeless.
Here at Wichita State, we do not have much data on the homeslessness of our students and hope that this scholarship begins the conversations that need to be had surrounding the issue. Furthermore, this need-based educational scholarship is intended to assit by filling the gap of tuition need for students who are struggling and are identified under the McKinney-Vento classification of homelessness.
The Student Senate approved $6,000 to be set aside for the year of 2020-2021. The Academics Committee will be providning oversight of this schoalrship and it will be open in the fall of 2020. All application information will be completely confidential for the students applying.
We are hoping this scholarship begins conversations about how we can further support our students who are dealing with homelessness and need the assistance. It is a stepping stone to more initiatives that further the support of various populations of students in need.