Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students - ABSTRACT Applicant: Red Rocks Community College Project Title: RRCC Physician Assistant Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program Opportunity Number: HRSA-26-096 Need: Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) serves students from metropolitan, suburban, rural, and mountain communities across Colorado. Students in RRCC’s 27-month Master of Physician Assistant Studies program face substantial tuition, educational, transportation, clinical-placement, housing, and living expenses. Because the program requires full-time academic and clinical participation, students have limited ability to maintain outside employment. These barriers are especially significant for students from economically vulnerable or educationally or geographically vulnerable backgrounds who have documented financial need. Proposed Services: RRCC will address the needs of eligible full-time Physician Assistant students through three coordinated interventions: financial support, academic support, and professional and career support. SDS-funded scholarships will reduce documented unmet need and make PA education more attainable for students who meet HRSA disadvantaged-background requirements. Continuing recipients who remain eligible will receive priority, followed by students experiencing severe financial hardship and those with the greatest documented unmet need. Each scholarship will equal at least 50 percent of annual tuition, will not exceed $40,000 per student per academic year, and will not exceed the recipient’s documented financial need. Awards will support allowable tuition, educational expenses, and living expenses associated with attendance and will be disbursed through RRCC’s Financial Aid Office after eligibility verification. Scholarship recipients will receive continued academic and financial advising and will be deliberately connected to existing faculty support, tutoring, wellness, clinical education, and career-development resources. As recipients progress through the program, RRCC will provide career guidance and structured pathways into primary care, particularly in rural, Tribal, and other medically vulnerable communities. These services are available to all PA students, but the SDS program will enable RRCC to more intentionally ensure that scholarship recipients engage with and benefit from them. Population Served: The project will serve full-time students enrolled or accepted into RRCC’s Master of Physician Assistant Studies program who meet HRSA disadvantaged-background requirements, demonstrate financial need through FAFSA, meet applicable citizenship or eligible-noncitizen requirements, and maintain satisfactory academic standing. RRCC anticipates supporting 25 students in Year 1, 38 in Year 2, 51 in Year 3, 39 in Year 4, and 38 in Year 5. Anticipated Outcomes: RRCC expects the project to reduce unmet financial need, support retention and graduation, and increase the number of graduates entering primary care and serving rural, Tribal, and other medically vulnerable communities. RRCC will track scholarship, academic, clinical, and verified employment outcomes and use quarterly data review to improve project implementation.
