News

106 Charleston County Students Receive Meeting Street Scholarship

Published

2 years ago

October 6, 2022

Press Release

The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit helping high-achieving students with financial need to pay for college, today announced its second class of scholarship recipients. This remarkable group of students includes 106 college freshmen from Charleston County and 71 freshmen from eligible Pee Dee counties. Additionally, four college sophomores from Charleston County earned a scholarship upon meeting the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund’s eligibility criteria at the end of their freshman year. The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund expects to award up to $2.4 million in scholarships to this group of hardworking students for the 2022 -2023 academic year.

The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund was founded in 2020 with a simple promise to public high school graduates in Charleston County: students who work hard in high school and meet five simple criteria can earn a scholarship of up to $10,000 per year for up to four years of college. In its first year, the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund awarded nearly $1 million in scholarships to 94 Charleston County students for the 2021 – 2022 school year. Now, with the generous support of the Darla Moore Foundation, students from the Pee Dee region are eligible for the scholarship, bringing the opportunity to students in nine South Carolina counties and almost doubling the number of qualified applicants.

“I am honored to support another remarkable group of students as they begin college and pursue their unique version of the American Dream,” said Ben Navarro, founder of the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund. “Each student has put in tremendous effort to get where they are today. We believe in the future of these deserving and ambitious students.”

This year’s recipients attend some of South Carolina’s best colleges, including the University of South Carolina at Columbia, Clemson University, the College of Charleston, and Claflin University. Additionally, the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund has recipients on campus for the first time at Anderson University, Newberry College, the Citadel, and Wofford College. With students pursuing careers in medicine, education, business, arts, and more, the second class of Meeting Street Scholarship Fund recipients are a high-achieving group of students with an exciting world of opportunities ahead of them.

Scholarship Requirements

Each Charleston County student who qualifies for the Meeting Street Scholarship must:

Reside in Charleston County.
Graduate from an eligible Charleston County public or public charter high school in 2021, 2022, or 2023.
Complete the FAFSA and receive a Pell Grant.
Earn an SC LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship:
- SC LIFE requires meeting at least two of the following:
  - Earn at least a 3.0 GPA in high school
  - Score at least 1100 on the SAT or 22 on the ACT
  - Rank in the top 30% of their graduating class
- Palmetto Fellows requires the following criteria:
  - Earn at least a 3.5 GPA in high school
  - Earn a 1200 for math and critical reading on the SAT or 27 on the ACT
  - Rank in the top 6% of their class at the end of 10th, 11th, or 12th grade

A student can qualify for Palmetto Fellows without regard to rank with a 4.0 GPA and a 1400 on math and critical reading on the SAT or 32 on the ACT.

Attend an eligible South Carolina college or university with a six-year graduation rate of 50% or higher

To continue receiving the Meeting Street Scholarship throughout college, students must demonstrate financial need by receiving a Pell Grant and maintain academic excellence by retaining their SC Life or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship.

Scholarship applications for the 2023 – 2024 school year will open October 10, 2022. The portal has been updated to further simplify the application process on mobile devices and email alerts will notify students of missing information to help expedite their application process. Additionally, the portal has been updated to allow for students to apply if they meet our criteria for the first time as college students, which will tailor the application to their education journey.

To learn more about The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund, visit www.meetingstreetscholarshipfund.org. For updates, news, and more, sign up for the Progress Report newsletter and follow the organization on Facebook and Instagram.