>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

A special bit of genius lies behind the latest college scholarships offered by the Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative. OTEC is giving four more scholarships, which brings the total to 24 in the four counties the cooperative serves. Only these new scholarships are for students returning to college or an accredited vocational or technical school for their second, third or fourth year.

It’s common knowledge that students are most vulnerable to dropping out of college after their freshman year. The new scholarships give students incentive to stay the course and complete a degree program.

What’s more, the way scholarships work, there are a lot more of them available to freshmen than to upperclassmen. It’s good to get college students off to a stable start in these days of soaring tuition and room and board costs. But it may be even more important to sustain students when the going gets financially tough as they get closer to their degree goals.

The scholarships go to active OTEC members or their dependents and are good for not just colleges and universities but accredited vocational and technical schools. The scholarships may open doors to an education and a career that would otherwise be locked shut.

OTEC has a long tradition of giving back to its members and the community to make Northeast Oregon a better place to live. Their investment in the community will pay dividends down the road.