[LINCOLN, NE May 28, 2025] – The Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation (NCCEF) has awarded 11 scholarships totaling $36,500 for the 2025/26 academic year to students attending 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 scholarship program, launched in the 1993/94 academic year, is funded through voluntary contributions from agricultural cooperatives that are members of the Nebraska Cooperative Council. Since its inception, the program has awarded 262 scholarships totaling $401,200.
To be eligible for the scholarships, students must be majoring in agribusiness or agricultural economics at UNL, agribusiness or ag production systems at NCTA, or agribusiness at UNK. Eligibility is restricted to sons/daughters of a parent/legal guardian who has been an active voting member, director, or employee for at least the prior three years of a cooperative which has been a member in good standing of the Council for at least five years.
Among this year’s recipients is Ashley Bonifas, who received a $3,500 NCCEF Scholarship in honor of Michael S. Turner. Ashley, the daughter of CPI patrons Alan and Nicole Bonifas of Roseland, will be a sophomore at UNL majoring in agribusiness.
Other recipients of the $3,500 Turner Scholarship include Caleb Burnside, Adam Knapp, Cora Hoffschneider, Brianna Johnson, Blake Hansen, Rachel Martensen, and Kayten Flanagan. In Addition, Wyatt Ozenbaugh and Lydia Ziemba received $2,500 NCCEF Scholarships also in honor of Michael S. Turner. Bailey Holtmeier was awarded a $3,500 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 Dave Beckman, 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.
