Lincoln, NE (May 20, 2024) – The Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation (NCCEF) has awarded 11 scholarships totaling $31,000 for the 2024/25 academic year to students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) at Curtis, and the University of Nebraska-Kearney (UNK).

The NCCEF scholarship program was initiated for the 1993/94 academic year with funding from voluntary contributions from the agricultural cooperatives which are members of the Nebraska Cooperative Council. Since the program’s inception, 251 scholarships totaling $364,700 have been awarded.

To be eligible for the scholarships, students must be majoring in agribusiness or agricultural economics at UNL, agribusiness or ag production systems at NCTA, or agribusiness at UNK. Eligibility is restricted to sons/daughters of a parent/legal guardian who has been an active member, director, or employee for at least the prior three years of a cooperative which has been a member in good standing of the Council for at least five years. The of the nine NCCEF 2024/25AY scholarships awarded, Aurora Cooperative recipients are:

Recipients of a $3,000 NCCEF Scholarship in Honor of Michael S. Turner

• Adam Knapp, son of Jay & Kay Knapp of Ord, will be a freshman at UNL majoring in agribusiness. The Knapp’s are members of Country Partners Co-op headquartered in Gothenburg and Aurora Co-op Elevator Co. headquartered in Aurora.

• Ashlyn Robinson, daughter of Randy & Becky Robinson of North Platte, will be a senior at UNL majoring in agricultural economics. The Robinson’s are members of Hi-Line Co-op headquartered in Elsie and Randy also serves on its board of directors; Aurora Co-op Elevator Co. headquartered in Aurora; and Ag Valley Co-op headquartered in Arapahoe.

• Levi Schiller, son of Michelle & Chris Schiller of Scribner, will be a junior at UNL majoring in agribusiness. The Schiller’s are members of Frontier Co-op headquartered in Lincoln and Chris is an employee at Aurora Co-op Elevator Co. headquartered in Aurora.

“The Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation is honored to provide students with
financial support, allowing them to be able to study agricultural business/economics. Education is one of the fundamental cooperative principles, and this program continues to be an important part of our efforts to help youth understand the cooperative way of doing business and interest them in pursuing careers in the agricultural industry here in Nebraska,” according to Dave Beckman, Foundation Board Chairman.

The purposes of the Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation are to promote and encourage high school graduates to pursue higher education in the agricultural and agribusiness fields through scholarships and the implementation of school-to-work programs with participating Nebraska cooperatives; to encourage high school graduates to remain in Nebraska in agricultural pursuits all of which will result in community betterment; and the preservation of agriculture as a way of life.