When he donated $125,000 a few years ago to establish an endowment funding the Bill Cossar Ole Miss First Scholarship at his alma mater, the Teasdale community resident had one thought in mind.
He noted that his purpose in establishing the scholarship fund was to help ease a financial load that weighs on so many college graduates.
“My main goal was to help children graduating from college not to have such a burden of student loans that just drags them down,” Cossar noted. “That was my whole idea — pay for it up-front. If I can help, I want to help.”
The Bill Cossar Ole Miss First Scholarship provides undergraduate students with $2,500 per semester for up to eight semesters — a total of $20,000.
There are only a few requirements governing eligibility.
“Applicants have to be a Tallahatchie County resident,” said Cossar. “If they live here, that’s who I want to help.”
In the past, Cossar’s scholarship has been awarded to four residents of Tallahatchie County: Leigh McKinney Bland of Charleston, a graduate of Charleston High School; Susie Tucker of Cowart, a graduate of Strider Academy; Jasmine Turner of Tippo, a graduate of Charleston High School; and Courtney Ellett of the Murphreesboro community, a graduate of Grenada High School.
The latest recipient of the scholarship is Zach Sanders, 18-year-old son of Randy and Ciji Sanders of Oak Grove Road near Charleston.
Sanders is the salutatorian of his graduating class at North Delta School in Batesville.
“Recipients have to live in Tallahatchie County, but they don’t have to attend school here,” Cossar explained.
The Ole Miss First Scholarship Program has a few additional stipulations, including that all applicants have a minimum high school GPA of 3.0 to qualify for consideration (Sanders said his GPA is 4.225) and must score at least 25 on their ACT (a mark Sanders met and exceeded with an ACT superscore of 26).
Sanders said he is “very excited” to be awarded the Bill Cossar Ole Miss First Scholarship as he prepares to head into his first semester of college studies this fall, where he will be majoring in Biology with plans to pursue a career in anesthesiology.
He noted that he has been awarded several other scholarships for Ole Miss, and as he began recounting the list, Cossar quipped, “They may owe you money, Zach.”
Cossar said he is “just proud” of the opportunity to help qualifying Tallahatchie County students pursue their educational dreams.
Motivating other students to excel in class and meet the criteria to apply for the scholarship is partly his motive for honoring each new recipient.
“Some kid out there sees that in the paper and they say, ‘If ole Zach did that, I can do that,’ Cossar noted. “That’s my whole thought about it.”
The Ole Miss First Scholarship Program website states that students should apply for admission to The University of Mississippi and complete the Entering Freshman Scholarship Application.
A student must be registered full time (12-hour minimum) to be eligible and must complete both The University of Mississippi Academic and General Endowed Scholarship Application and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
For more information, contact Cindy May, assistant director of Financial Aid, via email, cmay1@olemiss.edu, or call 1-800-891-4596.
