Scholarship helps keep NH’s brightest in-state

New Hampshire employers need more workers trained in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. The future of New Hampshire’s economy could depend on it.

The Fred Kocher Scholarship of the New Hampshire High Technology Council is helping give students the boost they need to study in those disciplines — and stay in New Hampshire.

“The market for STEM jobs is growing 7 percent faster than the job market,” said Kocher, a former president and current trustee of the council. “The demand is getting higher and higher.”

The $2,000 scholarships, administered by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, are renewable annually and matched by schools in the University and Community College Systems of New Hampshire.

For Sachi Nagada, a chemical engineering major at the University of New Hampshire, the scholarship covered the balance of her tuition.

“It’s a big chunk of money that I don’t have to provide for, so I can concentrate on my studies,” said Nagada.

The scholarship is open to employees of council member companies and their dependents.

Council board member Matt Pierson said it made sense to partner with the Foundation to administer the scholarship and choose recipients.

“The Foundation is so in tune to what’s going on in the world of higher education and scholarships,” Pierson said.

The council encourages the students to stay in New Hampshire to work.
“To maintain the economic health of New Hampshire, we need to have people coming in to these great, high-paying jobs,” Pierson said.

Nagada’s dream is to work in bioengineering, researching treatment for degenerative eyesight.

And, she said, “My goal is to get a job in New Hampshire to start my career.”

This story originally appeared in the Foundation’s 2013 Annual Report.