OUTSTANDING OUTCOMES
TWO YEARS IN, LEGACY AND LEGENDS IS IMPROVING ENROLLMENT AND CHANGING LIVES
D
once again broke records and welcomed approximately 530 new students in fall 2021.
As Georgetown College has now welcomed its second incoming class of Legacy and Legends students, it’s clear that the full-tuition scholarship for students from Scott, Casey, Owen, and Franklin counties is a game changer. The scholarship has led to historic enrollment growth, but perhaps its true legacy lies in the lives it has transformed.
But the quantifiable success of the scholarship, demonstrated by surging enrollment numbers, may only be eclipsed by the harder to quantify successes, the students who have experienced the life changing gift of an education.
HISTORIC GAINS Since the announcement of the scholarship, Georgetown College has experienced significant enrollment growth, welcoming a record-breaking freshman class of 465 students in Fall 2020. However, this initial enrollment burst was not simply a short-term boost, as the College
These last two record-breaking incoming classes have helped the College hit a 10-year undergraduate enrollment peak of 1,224 students. If this trend continues, the College could even begin to approach the enrollment highs of the late 1960s, when approximately 1,600 undergraduate students were routinely enrolled.
LIFE CHANGING IMPACT
Ajane Barber ‘24, a sophomore Marketing and Communications major from Scott County, didn’t know if she would be able to attend college, or if she’d be able to do so without a burdensome educational debt. Legacy and Legends was a lifeline for her. “When I heard about the scholarship, I just couldn’t believe it,” said Barber. “It’s such a stressful time preparing
to go the college. You’re thinking about how you’re going to pay for it, what that means for your future. But for me, the stress during that time was completely lifted when I learned about the scholarship. It was an easy decision. Georgetown College was the school for me!” “Before this opportunity, it was just not in the cards for me to come here”, said Shelby Barnes ’24, a sophomore from Owen County. “Now, Georgetown has given me the tools I’m going to need to succeed in my future. It’s also allowed me to meet new people, make lifelong friends, and I am so grateful for that.” For students from these four Kentucky counties, the scholarship is about opportunity, the chance to study at an elite institution that prepares them to live their best lives. “I know my future is set because of Legacy and Legends and the education I now get to receive at Georgetown,” said Barber. “I’ve grown academically, personally, and professionally more than I ever realized I could here.” Now a defining moment in the history of Georgetown College, the launch of Legacy and Legends has led to the College breaking enrollment records and has made its community of students larger and more diverse. It’s made the transformational education the College provides accessible to more students than ever. “It’s been a game changer,” said Barber. “It’s completely changed my life.”
— AJANE BARBER ‘24
GC MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
GC MAGAZINE | FALL 2021 7
ecember of 2019 feels like a lifetime ago. That month the College announced the Legacy and Legends Scholarship, a four-year full-tuition scholarship for incoming students from four Kentucky counties. Week by week, College officials welcomed students to campus and visited a few schools as well to announce that their county had been chosen for the scholarship. At each stop along the way, students listened to the annoucement and gasped in shock. Some even shed tears of joy.
“IT’S BEEN A GAME CHANGER, IT’S COMPLETELY CHANGED MY LIFE.”
8
