SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – A South Dakota scholarship program is taking financial stress off college students and setting them up for success after graduation.
The Build Dakota Scholarship allows a student entering a high-demand career to receive a full ride to a South Dakota technical college. This year, the scholarship celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Recipients at Southeast Technical College are some of the students seeing positive impacts on their future careers.
“They come out without any debt, and they’re paired with an industry partner. So, at the beginning of their program, they know exactly where they’re going to be employed and have a job waiting for them when they graduate,” Southeast Technical College President Corey Clasemann said.
For many students, that guarantee is reassuring.
“I know that I’m set up financially and that I can go home, make my parents proud and have a job that I know I’m going to like,” Build Dakota Scholarship recipient Christopher Terry said.
It’s also the reason some students at Southeast Tech are able to attend higher education.
“Build Dakota is the only reason why I’m in college, because my parents do not work. They’re ill… so Build Dakota has helped me a lot financially,” second-year surgical technology student Dewas Gajmer said.
Southeast Tech welcomed 164 new scholarship students this fall, a record high. Many of those high-demand jobs were demonstrated by students in a simulation on campus Thursday morning.
The simulation involved a helicopter landing and students assisting patients involved in an accident. Airean Lange is in her second year at Southeast Tech and hopes to become a traveling surgical technician after school. She said being a Build Dakota scholar is helping her reach that goal.
“It’s important because there’s not many people in this career, so it’s very demanding and it’s helping to keep that going in the future,” Lange said.
Other students, like Ellison Hasert who’s studying surgical technology, heard about the scholarship opportunity through her sister, who also applied.
“I always wanted to do this program, so it allowed me to actually focus on the program. And so when I applied for the scholarship, it kind of set in stone that this is what I wanted to do,” Hasert said.
Dirty Jobs TV personality Mike Rowe was also on campus to celebrate the anniversary and to acknowledge the importance of technical colleges.
“I think it’s fair to say, it exceeded everybody’s expectations and nobody knew exactly what it was going to be when it got started. But you can tell just the amount of great foresight that went into it,” Clasemann said.
And the scholarship is only looking to empower more students in the next ten years.
Students interested in receiving a Build Dakota Scholarship can apply starting January 1, 2025. A list of eligibility requirements and information on how to apply can be found here.
