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University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds has announced that 150 scholarships are available through the Nebraska Virtual Scholars program for the 2016-2017 school year. Nebraska Virtual Scholars offers schools throughout the state the funds necessary for students to take University of Nebraska High School online courses for free.

With this year’s contribution of scholarships, the program has provided 689 scholarships since its inception in 2011, serving 108 schools and 289 students in 87 Nebraska counties. Nebraska schools can on behalf of their students. All Nebraska high schools are eligible to apply. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 7, with recipients announced by Oct. 14.

Nebraska Virtual Scholars aims to help Nebraska high schools prepare students to be college- and career-ready. Rural and urban schools alike have used the scholarships for a variety of courses including core, elective, AP® and dual enrollment.

Through the program, the university has also had the opportunity to learn from schools what challenges they are facing that could be addressed through online education. Last year, many schools had a strong need for world language courses beyond the first year as well as career-interest courses. Schools also expressed the need to provide options for a wide range of student ability levels, from foundational courses through advanced. Recent UNHS course additions have been developed to address the needs of Nebraska schools. Financial Algebra, Statistics and AP Computer Science were developed to increase the variety of STEM courses available. AP French, Chinese 1 and 2 were added and German 1 and 2 are currently under development in response to the persistent need for World Languages.