Glasgow High School Educational Trust Announces Policy Change and Recent Awards

At a recent meeting, the trustees of the Glasgow High School Educational Trust made a significant change in one aspect of its eligibility requirements, effective immediately. Previously, Glasgow High School graduates must have completed one-fourth of the course requirements for a two-year degree or certificate or one year of a four-year degree, either online or on campus, through an accredited college or trade school following their graduation from GHS to be eligible for financial aid from the trust. Dual enrollment courses students may have taken while attending GHS did not count toward that minimum.

Dual enrollment classes are offered at GHS under the auspices of the Montana University System. In certain qualifying classes, students may concurrently receive both high school credit toward a diploma and college credit toward a degree at participating colleges and universities, if those schools have executed an interlocal agreement with GHS. There are numerous other eligibility requirements that must be met to allow students to take advantage of this opportunity. They are all clearly identified in the Glasgow High School 2022-2023 Student-Parent Handbook available at GHS or online on the GHS webpage.

Now, the Glasgow High School Educational Trust allows GHS graduates who have earned 24 or more college-level credits through the dual enrollment credit program offered by Glasgow High School and who have been accepted to a four-year program at an accredited college, trade school, or university to apply to the trust for financial aid if they include with their applications a certified transcript from the specific school they will be attending that proves the school’s acceptance of those credits and sophomore level standing, or through a letter from the school’s registrar that proves acceptance of those credits and sophomore level standing. GHS graduates who will be attending an accredited two-year program, may, likewise, apply to the trust for financial aid if they have completed 12 dual enrollment credits and provide the same verification as that required for four-year programs. The trustees hope this policy change will encourage more GHS students to take advantage of the dual enrollment opportunities available to them, and, thereby, realize significant savings in time and money.

The Glasgow High School Educational Trust was established in 1964 by the GHS Class of 1938 to help GHS alumni achieve their post-secondary educational goals. Since its inception, hundreds of generous donors have built the corpus of the trust to over $10 million dollars. The earnings on these assets are awarded to eligible applicants through a semi-annual process administered by the trustees. Application deadlines are July 1 and Oct. 15 of each year.

The application, which lists all requirements that must be met, is available at http://www.ghsedutrust.org. Financial need has always been a primary consideration; therefore, the trust has established levels of support to meet students’ diverse needs, and it distributes the funds available accordingly. Trust awards are not traditional scholarships only for those with very high grade-point averages. All students in good academic standing are given equal consideration. This includes students in trade schools and vocational/technical programs.

Students may reapply for additional aid for a total of eight semesters if they meet all of the eligibility requirements. To date, the trust has awarded over $2.7 million dollars in financial aid to 786 different students attending hundreds of different schools across the nation. This includes awards given, but not accepted, unused, returned, or disqualified due to ineligibility issues. Many students have received multiple awards.

The application must be completed properly, thoroughly, and submitted on time to be considered. Recently, an increasing number of applicants have failed to do so. For example, the trust received 24 applications for the 2022-2023 academic year by the July 1, deadline. Only 12 of them had been completed properly, and, therefore, only 12 of them received financial aid. By comparison, for the 2021-2022 academic year, the trust awarded financial aid to 48 different students for a total of $210,000. The lack of applications, and the ineligibility of some applications because they were incomplete or students had not followed directions, disappoints not only the applicants and their families, but also the trustees and the many donors who have given their hard-earned money to the trust to help others. It is sincerely hoped that more students will apply in the future and that those whose applications were ineligible will correct their deficiencies and resubmit them by the Oct. 15, deadline to receive financial aid for the Spring 2023 semester. If applicants have any questions, they should contact Danielle Anderson at 406-230-0153.

In addition to student gifts, the Glasgow High School Educational Trust also uses the earnings on its corpus to purchase equipment and programs for Glasgow High School that cannot be financed within the school’s regular budget. Over the years, every department has received such gifts, benefitting all students and the public at large when it attends events at the school or uses its facilities. The total dollar value of these awards is $266,519.15.

Whenever the trust receives donations that total $500 in the name of a particular individual, a one-time gift is given to a student or to GHS in the name of that person. Donations of $10,000 or more in the name of a particular individual allow for an ongoing naming opportunity on a regular basis.

The following students received financial aid from the trust for the 2022-2023 academic year in honor, recognition, or memory of the individual(s) whose name(s) is(are) listed.

First-time Recipients: Victoria Pehlke, University of Montana-Western, IMO Deceased Members of the Class of 1971 (fall semester), IMO Donald “Don” J. Baker (spring semester); Kaylee Ross, BYU-Idaho, IHO Charlotte Bruce (fall semester), IHO Sever and Esther Enkerud (spring semester); Amanda Skolrud, Capella University, IHO Everett and Elizabeth Breigenzer (fall semester), IMO Phyllis E. Moen Sanguine (spring semester).

Second-time Recipients: Isaac Braaten, South Dakota School of Mines, IMO Dallas Johnson (fall semester), IMO Leonard H. and Kathryn L. Langen (spring semester); Salomon Hansen, MSU-Bozeman, IHO James and Ailene Dokken Olk Family (fall semester), IMO James “Jim” A. Parke (spring semester); Tanner Overby, BYU-Idaho, IMO L.J. and Jean Baker (fall semester), IMO Harold H. and Irene W. Smith (spring semester); Paige Schmitt, MSU-Bozeman, IMO Dr. Nancy Lee Etchart (fall semester), IMO Ardis Parke Fuhrman (spring semester); Rachel Sigmundstad, MSU-Bozeman (fall semester), IMO Donna Lee Squires Etchart; Elijah Zeluff, Montana Tech., IHO Dorothy Kolstad (fall semester), IMO O. E. and Lois Wilson Markle (fall semester).

Third-time Recipients: Katherine Kaiser, Colorado State University, IMO Lois Wilson Markle (fall semester), IRO Ione and Phyllis Kleppin (spring semester); Garrett Lloyd, MSU-Bozeman, IMO Mitchel “Mitch” J. Etchart (fall semester) IRO 1966 Scholarship Gift to Karen Swenson (spring semester); Alexandria Pehlke, U of Montana – Western, IMO Karen D. Newton (fall semester), IMO Gloria Robertson (spring semester).

The trust also made the following purchases for Glasgow High School:

10 iPads and Accessories - Art Department, IMO Gary and Idella Mott

3 Computers - Industrial Arts Department, IMO Dean Rusher

30 Chairs – Social Studies Department – IMO Stan Andersen Family.

More information about the trust, including how to donate, how to contact trustees, recipient stories, and historical photographs are available on the website at http://www.ghsedutrust.org.