The Katy Rotary Fund gifted $30 thousand to the HCC Foundation for scholarships for current and former Katy ISD students attending Houston Community College.

The fund will dole out $10 thousand a year for the next three years.

Katy Rotary Fund President Ken Burton presented the check at the HCC Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday Aug. 20.

Burton explained that they will assist dual credit students in Katy ISD who are on free lunch programs, and therefore already identified as low-income.

HCC tuition has already been waived for dual credit students, but students living outside of the taxing district must pay out-of-district fees and dual credit student are also responsible for the cost of their textbooks. The Katy Rotary Fund will help pay for the dual credit students’ fees and books.

“This will give that student an opportunity to see if they can make it, because if they do, there will be no debt,” said Burton.

The donation will continue to assist former Katy students who attend HCC after high school. This year, five first year students and five second year students will receive up to $1 thousand each. These scholarships are meant to help students who receive only partial Pell Grants.

“Student debt as you know is one of the biggest problems today,” Burton continued, “if they get a partial Pell Grant, we’ll pick up the difference so that they can go through school and get an education.”

Applications for scholarships through the HCC Foundation for this academic year have already closed. Scholarship recipients will be notified of their award via email before the end of August.