As Whitney Menser, a rising senior at South Oldham High School, makes her way across Bellarmine University’s picturesque campus, she notices familiar images everywhere. Those all too familiar rolling hills of Louisville set the perfect stage for her Governor’s Scholar Program classes, special activities, and events.Menser as well as 343 other teens are living on the university’s campus for 5 weeks, getting a taste of what it would be like to be a college freshman. The scholars applied for the program against thousands of peers from around the state to be one of a little over one thousand picked for three campuses of GSP scholars.
One of the reasons for the rising competition is scholarships. Many of the colleges in Kentucky offer GSP graduates top scholarships.
But for Menser, that is surprisingly not appealing. Her options for post-secondary education are numerous, and no one would be surprised if she did chose to come back in a year to study at Bellarmine, except for Menser.
Her mind has been set against Kentucky universities since elementary school.
“It’s not like a shout-it-to-the-world kind of thing, but I don’t hide it,” she said casually. “Schools in Kentucky are either too small or too close… A lot of my friends are going to college in-state. I’m not interested in gong back to high school. It’s hard to get out of your shell if you know half the student population.”
Scholars chosen to participate to this 5 week program are top students in the state. They are chosen for their grades and test scores but also for their community service and school involvement. There is already extreme pressure to chose where to go to college; and scholarships, undeniable bonuses of being involved in GSP, bear enormous weight on this decision.
Though GSP is not technically considered a scholarship program, the overwhelming majority (a new high set at 84 percent in 2006) of scholars choose to remain in Kentucky for their postsecondary education. And with the down turn in the economy, the number will likely rise.
Menser isn’t worried about the financial aspect, and feels no guilt about attending GSP in the place of a student who would use the scholarships offered in-state.
“I applied to GSP for the experience, to get used to college life… I could get scholarships elsewhere just by having this program on my résumé,” she said.
Arís Cedeño, the executive director of Governor’s Scholars Program, insists that there is no pressure for any scholar to stay in Kentucky, and that the choice is the scholar’s to make. But on the other hand, Cedeño is quick to point out the need for the scholars in Kentucky.
“It’s not our goal to keep you (scholars) here, but remember, you need to help the place that helped you,” Cedeño said to a group of scholars.
Each night at GSP, Menser winds down in her dorm’s lounge. Tonight, she is dressed casually in a sweatshirt from Purdue, her mother’s alma mater. Though she has no clear-cut idea of where she wants to go, she feels a strong pull toward Purdue, whether or not she is awarded good scholarships.
“I always planned on paying student loans. I’m not worried about them,” she said.
The origins of the Governor’s Scholars Program in Kentucky reside in the early 1980’s, when leaders became concerned about the “brain drain” from their states into more challenging and exciting college programs in other states.
In the founding year of GSP, 55.8 percent of students made use of their scholarships, and with each passing year, excepting a few drop-offs, this number has been steadily rising.
Cedeño acknowledges this statistic, but promises that GSP is not going to stand in the way of any scholar who feels the need to leave Kentucky for other schools or programs.
“Away from home is a mental state,” he said. “You can go away… go wherever you want to go. You’re offered a scholarship to Harvard, and that’s your dream, take it.”