The Tennessee Valley Historical Society Scholarship Competition marked its 30th year on March 7. The society funds scholarships to UNA for high school students through a partnership with the university’s history department.

Located in the Muscle Shoals region of the Tennessee River Valley, the Tennessee Valley Historical Society has been in existence since 1923 and has made huge contributions to the preservation and interpretation of history in the region, said Jeffery Bibbee, associate professor of history.

The scholarship arose because the Tennessee Valley Historical Society wanted to nurture a respect for history in young people, Bibbee said.

“They created this scholarship fund 30 years ago and continue to contribute to it, to be involved in administering this, which we do for them on their behalf,” Bibbee said. “We award three scholarships: two to high school seniors, one to a high school junior.”

High school students take a basic United States and World History exam. The program’s administrators give scholarships to the first and second highest scores made by seniors and the highest score made by a junior, Bibbee said.

“It’s a multiple-choice exam, the questions are basic U.S. and world history questions,” Bibbee said. “It would be comparable, let’s say, to an examination that you might take in a U.S. history or world history class here at UNA.”

The scholarship values are $750, $500 and $250, Bibbee said.

Graduate student Yogyata Batra sees the educational benefit of the scholarship.

“Apart from the scholarship you’re getting, the knowledge I would get would be life-long,” Batra said.

The scholarship is a one-time offer, Bibbee said.

“They can apply it toward their tuition, and it’s a scholarship awarded through Student Financial Services so if the student enrolls here, they will be able to use that toward their tuition in their first year,” Bibbee said.

Sophomore Richard Crowder wishes he had heard of the scholarship before beginning his collegiate career.

“Had I have known about that at that age, I would have probably have tried to go for that scholarship,” Crowder said. “Anything I can do to lower my school costs is beneficial to me.”

Students need to understand, if they haven’t already, that this (college) a very expensive endeavor, Bibbee said.

“College is expensive,” Bibbee said. “This is an opportunity to get money to help pay tuition and any opportunity we can give a student to understand that there are sources available to support them as they pursue higher education, is the biggest thing.”

UNA recently hosted 150 students from 11 schools on Friday March 14, Bibbee said.

“We reach out to all of the high schools within a 100 mile radius of UNA and we have about 11 schools that are choosing to participate this year and they are bringing about 150 students” Bibbee said. “One of the biggest events our department brings.”

We want to make sure that we give them every opportunity to try to succeed, Bibbee said.