(Victor Joecks/NPRI) – The Nevada Policy Research Institute today announced it has created a new college scholarship, which it will award to a graduating high school student in Clark County with a demonstrated potential to make a strong contribution to the free-market cause.
The Professor R.S. Nigam & NPRI Freedom Scholarship is open to all high school students (attending a public, private, online or home school) in Clark County, Nev., who plan to attend college beginning in the fall of 2011. Students interested in applying for the scholarship, the value of which is $2,000, are asked to write an essay on the impact that free-market principles would have on K-12 education in Nevada.
“This scholarship provides a great opportunity for the next generation of free-market thinkers and leaders,” said Swadeep Nigam, who has graciously donated $25,000 for the scholarship program.
“We look forward with great excitement to learn from these young Nevadans the ideas they have for how to improve K-12 education in our state,” said NPRI President Sharon Rossie.
All applicants must have a grade-point average of at least 3.2 and complete an application that includes an essay on the following topic: “How would incorporating free-market principles into Nevada’s K-12 education system impact student achievement and the quality of education in Nevada?” To be eligible, a student’s parents must have earned less than $100,000 in income in 2010, and the student must intend to pursue a four-year degree program in Business, Economics, Political Science, Public Administration or a related field, at any accredited college or university.
Professor R.S. Nigam was a director of the Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi, a visiting professor at the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a senior fellow at the University of Wisconsin, in addition to academic engagements in Europe, the West Indies and Asia, including North Korea. The scholarship was made possible through a generous donation from Professor Nigam’s son, Swadeep Nigam, who is an active member of NPRI and has resided in Las Vegas for the past 25 years.
“This scholarship is a fitting way to honor Professor R.S. Nigam, a man who is devoted to education and who has taught both at UNLV and around the world,” said Rossie. “We are grateful for this opportunity to honor Professor Nigam, and also to help provide an opportunity for a hard-working Nevada student to continue his or her education.”
Essays and applications are due to NPRI by April 25, 2011.
Full details of the scholarship and applicant requirements are available at http://www.npri.org/docLib/20110217_NPRI_Scholarship_App.pdf.
