[LINCOLN, NE May 23, 2023] – The Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation (NCCEF) has awarded 9 scholarships totaling $20,100 for the 2023/24 academic year to students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) at Curtis, and the University of Nebraska-Kearney (UNK).
The NCCEF scholarship program was initiated for the 1993/94 academic year with funding from voluntary contributions from the agricultural cooperatives which are members of the Nebraska Cooperative Council. Since the program’s inception, 240 scholarships totaling $333,700 have been awarded.
To be eligible, students must be majoring in agribusiness or agricultural economics at UNL, agribusiness or ag production systems at NCTA, or agribusiness at UNK. In addition, recipients must be sons or daughters of a parent or legal guardian who has been an active voting member, director, or employee of a member cooperative in good standing for at least five years.
Among this year’s recipients is Isaac Kuehn, who received a $2,500 NCCEF Scholarship in honor of Michael S. Turner. Isaac, the son of CPI patrons Joel and Shannon Kuehn of Heartwell, will be a freshman at UNL majoring in agribusiness.
Other recipients of the $2,500 Turner Scholarship include Madison Adam, Sam Wilkins, Skylar Shanahan, Hannah Williams, and Cooper Schutz. In Addition, Bailey Holtmeier and Tyler Keener received $1,300 NCCEF Scholarships also in honor of Michael S. Turner. Madison Hirschman was awarded a $2,500 NCCEF Scholarship in honor Robert C. Andersen.
“The Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation is honored to provide students with financial support, allowing them to be able to study agricultural business/economics. Education is one of the fundamental cooperative principles, and this program continues to be an important part of our efforts to help youth understand the cooperative way of doing business and interest them in pursuing careers in the agricultural industry here in Nebraska,” according to Gerald Schmidt, Foundation Board Chairman.
The purposes of the Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation are to promote and encourage high school graduates to pursue higher education in the agricultural and agribusiness fields through scholarships and the implementation of school-to-work programs with participating Nebraska cooperatives; to encourage high school graduates to remain in Nebraska in agricultural pursuits all of which will result in community betterment; and the preservation of agriculture as a way of life.
