LEXINGTON, Ky. – Beginning in 2019, graduates of the Academy of Information Technology at Bryan Station High School will be eligible to receive a minimum $18,000 scholarship to attend Transylvania University. The newly announced partnership not only recognizes the achievements of academy graduates, but also provides them with a path to further their education at one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges.
“The work Bryan Station and its academies are doing to empower individuals to become globally-minded citizens goes hand-in-hand with our mission at Transylvania,” said President Seamus Carey. “We want students from throughout our community to know they can afford a top-level liberal arts education right here in Lexington, and we’re taking the steps to help make that happen for them.”
“With this commitment, Transylvania University is taking community partnership to the next level,” said Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Manny Caulk. “The Fayette County Public Schools Portrait of a Graduate is our promise to families that when you choose our schools, you are choosing an experience for your child designed to equip them to excel in whatever future they can imagine for themselves. This significant scholarship opportunity expands the world of possibilities for the graduates of Bryan Station High School.”
Beginning this year, students who graduate from Bryan Station’s Academy of Information Technology, apply to Transylvania by Feb. 1 of their senior year, and are admitted will receive a minimum renewable scholarship of $18,000 per year. Eligible high school students will be academically and career ready by having passed specific IT Academy classes, met industry certification or taken dual-credit classes to meet academy standards.
“This opportunity is about removing barriers for our students and allowing them to gain access to a top notch liberal arts post-secondary education,” said former IT Academy Principal Carl Hayden. “We appreciate that through our long standing partnership with Transylvania University, they recognize that the IT Academy is preparing graduates that are talented, engaged, and prepared to meet the needs of the 21st century global society.”
The Academy of Information Technology is the longest established career academy at Bryan Station and is a NAF certified academy. Graduates have gained valuable skills through project and work-based learning experiences in the classroom and through job shadowing, internships, guest speakers, field trips, mentors and special student-led community projects. The major pathways offered in the IT Academy are computer programming, video and cinematography, and graphic design.
Academy graduates may choose any of Transylvania’s 46 majors, but they can also continue studies in the field through the university’s Computer Science program and its new Digital Liberal Arts initiative. Launched in 2017 to teach students how digital technologies affect the world of today and tomorrow, students use technology to enhance learning, research and art. The initiative’s goal is to support a student’s academic experience with tools and spaces dedicated to cutting-edge digital technologies.
Bryan Station students who apply to and are accepted to attend Transylvania are also eligible for a number of additional merit-based scholarships and financial aid opportunities. The average financial aid package for incoming Transylvania students is approximately $27,000 a year, making the actual costs of college more affordable. Students attending Transylvania are also more likely to graduate in four years when compared to other Kentucky colleges – almost 70 percent of Transy’s first-year students graduate in four years, as opposed to an average of 19.6 percent at public universities and 34.2 percent at the other private institutions.
For more information on applying to Transylvania, visit https://www.transy.edu/admission.