The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is continuing their ongoing support of the higher education of youth at their annual scholarship banquet with the awarding of over $8 million in scholarships. A lucky group of 423 students from across the greater Houston area received the funds to aid with their college education on this past Wednesday evening at the NRG Center. Pride could be seen and felt by the academic scholars, proud parents, and educators that filled the packed space.

HLSR President and CEO Joel Cowley began the night by applauding the hard work and efforts of the scholarship recipients. Following that Cowley thanked the volunteers, donors, and sponsors for their contribution toward the students’ futures.

This year’s crop of scholarship recipients represents a wide range of backgrounds, talents, and interests. Two-thirds of them are young women and they will stay close to home attending 39 different Texas universities. Students received scholarships of $20,000 if they are pursuing a four-year degree and $9,000 if they are pursuing a two-year technical degree. This is an increased in funding from previous years, an accomplishment that HLSR is extremely proud of. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo awards over 750 scholarships annually to Texas students.

As the scholarship winners posed for pictures Cowley told them, “What we could become is God’s gift to us, but what we become is our gift to God.”

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo have been awarding students scholarships since 1932. Over $430 million has been dedicated to the higher education of Texas students through those years. There are eleven different types of scholarships ranging from Technical to Area Go Texan, Metropolitan, Military, and more. In order to be eligible for a scholarship, students must be a U.S citizen and Texas resident, graduating high school senior from an eligible school, completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and must be planning to attend an accredited non-profit Texas university. The largest scholarship program the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo offers is the Metropolitan scholarship. There are 238 Metropolitan scholarship recipients this year, each receiving $20,000 for a combined total of $4,760,000. To qualify for the Metropolitan scholarship, students must attend a public high school in Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller counties. Students must be ranked in the top fourth of their graduating class and also need to score a 950 on the SAT or a 19 on the ACT.

Next year’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is scheduled to take place February 27-March 18, 2018.