AU receives $808,237 in Choose Ohio First scholarship funds

04/20/2021 ASHLAND, Ohio -- The Ohio Department of Higher Education has awarded Ashland University $808,237 in Choose Ohio First scholarship funds. The scholarships go to academically strong Ohio high school graduates who plan to major in STEMM areas – science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.

Since 2009, the university has received a total of $925,195 in COF funding, which has supported 91 students in the natural sciences. The new award will expand to cover students studying Math, Computer Science, and Cybersecurity. It will support the current 21 students and a total of 80 additional students over the next five years.

Of AU’s current COF scholars, 21 percent are first-generation college students and 40 percent are Pell eligible. Seventy-eight percent of past students have cited the scholarship as being important in their decision to attend AU.

“For many of our students this funding from the State of Ohio has made attending college possible and supported their passion for STEMM disciplines,” said Mason Posner, director of Ashland University’s COF program. “Most of our graduates stay in Ohio to contribute to our STEMM economy. We are very appreciative of the Ohio Legislature’s continued support for our students.”

Dawn Weber, dean of the College for Arts and Sciences, added, “while at Ashland, COF scholars have the opportunity to work closely with faculty in the laboratory, including conducting research on cataracts, drug delivery devices, ecology, soil contamination, and measuring toxic levels of lead and cadmium in products sold in the U.S. and internationally.  This research frequently leads to student presentations at professional conferences across the country as well as co-authored publications.”

The university’s 52 COF program graduates have gone on to STEMM jobs in Ohio, as well as graduate programs and professional health programs in medicine, physician assistant studies, veterinary medicine, dental and occupational therapy. AU COF students also have gained internships through the university’s business partners, including Charles River Laboratories, The Lubrizol Corp., the J.M. Smucker Co., University Hospitals-Seidman Cancer Center, Findley-Davies Inc. and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) offers each of its student constituencies The Ashland Promise, including “teaching students how to think, not what to think”. Committed to affordability, the University now offers incoming residential freshman the Tuition Relief Scholarship, as well as a variety of new forms of financial assistance for both new and continuing students. ###