Scholarship helps Gateway graduate afford college – now and into his future
Luis Meza followed the same path as many high school graduates.
He felt he had few options after high school in terms of finding a college he could afford and had resigned himself to the workforce. He started working as an electrical assembler, though, and realized he liked it.
Then he found out about Gateway Technical College and the SC Johnson STEM Scholars Pathway scholarship program – and his life, and career path, changed dramatically.
“I realized there were some people at work who had gone to Gateway and I was interested,” said Meza. “At the last minute, I found out about the STEM Scholars program, applied and got in.
“People at work were congratulating me, my supervisor even hugged me. I felt I was going to start doing something with my life. I always wanted to go to college and didn’t want to pass up this opportunity.”
Within a few years, Meza earned his Electrical Engineering Technician associate degree. He transferred the credits earned at Gateway to attaining a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, entering the four-year college as a junior.
Through a donation from SC Johnson, students such as Meza in approved science, technology, engineering and math-related degree programs receive a scholarship to pay for their Gateway tuition as well as support services to help them succeed.
After graduating from Gateway, they’re able to transfer those credits to a number of area four-year colleges where they will also have a portion of their tuition paid for as they earn a bachelor’s degree.
The biggest boost of the STEM Scholars program, said Meza, is that it paid for his Gateway tuition – and now it’s paying for much of his MSOE degree as well. That’s a savings of more than $30,000 and has helped Meza to stay on track to earn his associate degree and, soon, his bachelor’s degree.
“The big benefit is financial,” he said. “One of the other big benefits is the support groups they offer. You’re not just another face, another student ID number. They want you to succeed, they care about you – everyone supports you.”
Meza said Gateway’s rigorous education prepared him well for the workforce and to transfer on to MSOE.
“What I liked about Gateway was the sheer amount of opportunities,” he said. “There were so many opportunities – opportunities to learn, opportunities to attend a conference, for professional development, to connect with other students.”
Meza said the scholarship has changed his life, and done so quickly. He feels he would eventually have enrolled at Gateway, but as a part-time student and would have had to work full-time as well.
“It would have been so much tougher, and I don’t think I would have been as successful without the scholarship,” he said.