Students achieve record year for Rutherford Scholarships

Doug Horner
By Morinvillenews.com Staff

Edmonton – More than 12,000 Alberta students shared $26 million in Rutherford Scholarships in 2009-2010, a record year for the annual program named after Alberta’s first premier.

Students who maintain an average of 80 per cent or more in Grades 10, 11 and 12 are eligible for the maximum scholarship amount of $2,500. More than 60 per cent of Rutherford Scholarship recipients receive the maximum.

“I want to congratulate Alberta’s future doctors, nurses, artists, engineers and other professionals who will use this scholarship to realize their dreams,” said Doug Horner, Deputy Premier and Minister of Advanced Education and Technology in a release Friday. “This program makes a difference in the lives of thousands of Alberta students each year and I’m proud to say is an integral part of one of the most generous scholarship programs in the country.”

More than 200,000 Alberta students have benefited from the program since 1981, earning a total of more than $320 million in scholarships. In the past five years, funding for the Rutherford Scholarship has grown by 44 per cent and the number of students has increased by close to one-third.

Students who maintain an average between 75 and 80 per cent are also eligible for financial awards under the program.

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