Seventeen students from the Wichita area were recently awarded full-ride scholarships to Wichita State University for the 2013-14 school year by the TRIO/Gear Up scholarship program.

The program began in 2008 as a benefit to high school students who are participating in one of the TRIO programs housed on WSU’s campus.

“The scholarship is a wonderful opportunity for the students to begin their post-secondary education at Wichita State University,” said Larry Ramos, Director of Trio.

TRIO is a set of federally funded programs designed to encourage and support low-income and potential first college students to prepare for secondary education.

The scholarships are used to fund the first year costs of tuitions and fees, books and on-campus housing.

Out of a pool of almost 400 applications, 17 students from the Wichita area were selected to receive the scholarships. Applicants were required to have a minimum GPA of 2.75, an ACT score of 21 or higher, and be in the top third in their class ranking.

The students awarded the scholarships attended seven different schools in the Wichita area.

Northwest High School students Rebecca Robinson and Michael Wise were two of the students to receive the scholarships.

Robinson was shocked when she found out she had been selected.

“I didn’t expect it, but when it hit me I was really excited,” said Robinson.

Robinson is planning on taking core classes at Wichita State, but wants to do photography at Butler Community College. She attributes her drive to succeed to her parents, who have pushed her to attend college.

“They’ve always pushed me because they didn’t go and wanted me to succeed where they didn’t,” she said.

Wise also had a lot of family support to pursue higher education and is ambitious about his future. Wise is planning on majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in aerospace engineering and a second bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in Spanish.

He was in the JROTC program at Northwest where he said he was trained to be a better citizen, the importance of staying informed about world news, and learned valuable leadership skills.

Wise said he was excited when he got the news that he would be getting a full-ride scholarship at WSU, and that it was the turning point in his university selection.

“I’m very excited. I can’t wait for it to start,” Wise said.