<strong>From staff reports</strong>

The South Carolina State Fair is accepting applications for its Ride of Your Life Scholarship program.

Fifty $6,000 scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors across the state and will be paid out at $1,500 a year over four years. Students pursuing two-year degrees will receive $1,500 per year over the two-year period.

The scholarship funds must be used at a South Carolina university, college, or institution and may cover tuition or other educational expenses such as on-campus housing, a computer, or textbooks.

Scholarships are awarded based on academic and extracurricular achievement, communication skills, need and completeness of the application.

Scholarship applications must be completed online at scstatefair.org by March 15. The State Fair Scholars will be notified in mid-May.

The South Carolina State Fair “Ride of Your Life” Scholarship Program awards $300,000 in scholarships each year.

“Education is the fair’s mission, and we feel strongly it is of utmost importance to continue our scholarship program this year, even though the pandemic greatly affected the S.C. State Fair in 2020.” State Fair general manager Nancy Smith said in a release. “We know that students will need extra funding for college more than ever.”

Recipients must retain a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale and enroll in no less than 30 credit hours each academic year to receive funding for that year.

Prospective scholars or parents can get additional information at scstatefair.org or by contacting Betsy Cooper at betsyc@scstatefair.org or 803-799-3387, ext. 110.

A list of last year’s “Ride of Your Life” scholars can also be found online at scstatefair.org.