Two K-State Students Receive Tuition Assistance

Two Kansas State University Aviation students have been selected to receive the Cessna Leadership Scholarship - one in the professional pilot program and one in the aviation maintenance program.

Justin McKnight, senior in aviation maintenance, has been awarded $2,000. The scholarship, distributed over the next two years, can be used for tuition or to obtain flight ratings.

Samantha Scharff, senior in professional pilot, has been awarded $3,000. The scholarship will allow Scharff to complete some flight training in K-State's King Air as well as earn co-pilot time in the King Air or the university's CitationJet.

The scholarships are made possible by a gift from The Cessna Foundation Inc., Wichita, KS, to the Kansas State University Foundation Changing Lives Campaign. The Cessna Foundation is a private foundation that makes contributions on behalf of the Cessna Aircraft Company, which is a Wichita-based manufacturer of general aviation aircraft. The foundation has contributed more than $20 million to nonprofit organizations since it was incorporated in 1952.

"In order for the aviation companies in the United States to continue to produce the best general aviation aircraft in the world, we need to bring young people into the industry who have the necessary skills and the passion to maintain that leadership," said Jack Pelton, president of the Cessna Foundation. "We believe the quality of the aviation programs at K-State will produce the kind of future leaders our industry needs."

K-State has a fleet of more than 40 learning aircraft and more Master Certified Flight Instructors than any other college or university in the country. The aviation program is housed next to a 12,000-foot runway on the K-State at Salina campus, which provides a Big 12 university experience shared by 1,000 students in a high-tech campus environment. K-State at Salina offers certificates in air traffic control, A&P, airport management, avionics maintenance technology, and unmanned aerial systems; awards degrees in aircraft maintenance, technology management, and engineering technology; and offers an affordable professional pilot education.

FMI: www.cessna.com, www.sal.ksu.edu