Scholarships are becoming more and more important as a source of financing a college education. Every year the colleges raise their tuition rates, making it more difficult for the working class families to be able to afford to send their children to college. I would like to see a time when every state university provided enough grants and scholarships to their students so that every student that wanted to attend college would be able to attend.

I can remember when I was a high school senior and I applied to go to Virginia Tech. I was accepted to go there, but I did not qualify for enough grants and scholarships to be able to attend – even though I had taken college preparation courses in high school and had received all A’s and B’s on my report cards. My parents were already sending my older brother to college and they said that they could not afford to help me to attend college as well. So, I could not go to college. My life’s dream of becoming a veterinarian would never come to pass. If I had been able to attend college right out of high school, I would have led a much much better life, and the lives of my children would have been much better as well. College is the foundation on which financial stability is built. Our children need and deserve the chance to improve their lives with a good education.