If there is one thing Wyoming students should be experts on, it’s the Hathaway Scholarship program.

The Hathaway is awarded automatically to Wyoming students who meet certain criteria and attend an in-state college of the University of Wyoming. For the past three years, the Hathaway criteria has stayed the same, requiring students to meet the standard graduation requirements and, for the two higher levels of the scholarship, a little bit more.

But legislation recently was passed that has changed requirements for this year’s freshman and sophomore classes. According to Senate File 43, “Students graduating in school year 2020-2021 and each year thereafter will have to satisfy the new success curriculum as created by this act.”

“Seniors and juniors can elect to follow the old method,” PHS guidance counselor Mr. Trevor Lee said. “Or they can opt to follow the new rule change.”

The changes aren’t too drastic and might actually benefit students in the long run. The new bill allows for students aiming for the highest or second highest Hathaway to focus in areas they are interested in rather than just taking classes to satisfy requirements.

“Hathaway has removed the two years of foreign language requirement for the Honors and Performance levels of the Hathaway,” Mr. Lee said. “This will allow them to use their skills in other areas such as CTE and/or Fine and Performing Arts to show they can accomplish the Hathaway Success Curriculum.”

Instead of two mandatory years of foreign language, students can now take a more focused approach and take four years of either fine and performing arts, foreign language or career and technical education (hathawayscholarship.org).

The biggest question posed now is “why should I care?” Bottom line: money.

Students who are looking to go into any type of post-high school education, be it a profession like welding or mechanics, or to earn a degree, the Hathaway basically gives students money to achieve their goals.

“This opens the top levels of the Hathaway up to more students,” Mr. Lee said. “This provides opportunities for students as opposed to narrowing the possibilities for students looking to go into post-secondary education, which could simply be getting a certificate in areas such as welding or diesel mechanics, or culinary and still be able to use the Hathaway to support most career pathways.”

The money, however, doesn’t go to the student. It is given directly to the University of Wyoming or any Wyoming community college to go towards that student’s education.

So, if your concern when thinking about the future is the money aspect, choosing an in-state college and striving for the highest Hathaway will alleviate that concern all together.

“This is a great opportunity, not just for traditional students seeking a bachelor’s degree from a university, but also for those students looking to go into technical fields such as welding, mechanics and culinary,” Mr. Lee said.