News

The Southeast Community College Educational Foundation held a luncheon on Wednesday, April 16 to celebrate its scholarship donors. Nearly 130 donors, scholarship recipients, corporate partners and special guests attended the inaugural event held on the Lincoln Campus.

“Today, we come together to celebrate you – our generous donors and dedicated scholarship recipients,” said Ben Kiser, president of the SCC Educational Foundation Board and president of the Nelnet Foundation. “We are here to reflect and express our sincere appreciation for your generosity and unwavering commitment to supporting our students’ educational and workforce goals.”

In 2023-2024, the SCC Educational Foundation awarded 4,105 scholarships to 2,149 students at a value of more than $2.5 million. The average amount of scholarships awarded per student was $1,121. The Foundation also celebrated 247 first-time donors who gave $577,243 toward funding student dreams.

“Scholarship support fosters belonging and motivation, helping students move forward in their careers and lives,” said Michelle Birkel, SCC Educational Foundation executive director. “While our scholarship offerings continue to grow, the number of applications still exceed the available awards. Your gifts are changing lives. Whether $100 or $1 million, your gift is an investment in the future workforce of our 15-county region.”

One of Nebraska’s challenges in the workforce is a shortage of qualified employees. To address this problem, SCC is in the midst of a strategic transformation which includes renovating each campus with new buildings and updating current ones. Academic scholarships are also an important part of the success formula.

“We have over 80 career and technology programs all across various industry sectors,” said Dr. Paul Illich, SCC president. “We are celebrating how you partner with us to give our students access to these incredible, life-changing career pathways. Scholarships create opportunities for students to pursue careers in high-demand, high-wage and high-skill industries.”

As of June 30, 2024, SCC had 418 total scholarships with 23 new funds created in 2023-2024. The breakdown includes 198 annual scholarships as well as 220 endowed scholarship funds. An endowment allows the principal to remain intact as the investment income is used to provide scholarships. A minimum investment of $10,000 is needed to create an endowment at SCC. That is what Jason and Dr. Bobbi Berner did to honor the legacy of their son, Kody, who died in a motorcycle accident on Oct. 5, 2022. A welding student at SCC, they endowed a scholarship for non-traditional students to keep his memory alive.

“It was very important for us, for our healing, to ensure Kody’s name and his legacy would not be forgotten,” said Dr. Bobbi Berner. “We needed to continue his spirit of always wanting to help and to remember his passion and talent for welding. With patience, guidance and support from Michelle (Birkel), we set up a scholarship in his name. I believe he would be so proud to be a part of this, positively impacting other students. His name will continue on.”

Three scholarship recipients, Davyd Samoilenko, Sydney Jones and Matthew Vu, expressed the importance of receiving scholarships on their educational journeys. The stress of financial burden is real amongst many SCC students as 80% are using some form of financial aid to pay for college.

“The legacy that the Learn to Dream scholarship carries is unimaginable,” said Samoilenko. “The scholarship and its community make dreams come true. The safe start and support at the beginning of one’s adult life and the introduction to the tools on how to be a responsible and successful adult is what makes this program a big success. It is my heart’s desire for this to help even more lost high schoolers like me in the future.”  

Jennifer Snyder
Communications Specialist
402-323-3393
jsnyder@southeast.edu