The Mississippi Economic Council is meeting the needs of a changing workforce and promoting economic development by recognizing more than 5,000 graduating seniors through its Mississippi Scholars and Mississippi Scholars Tech Master programs. There were 4,325 graduates that received Mississippi Scholars honors in 2015, while 798 students graduated as Mississippi Scholars Tech Master.
MEC’s Mississippi Scholars program encourages primarily four-year college prep students to take a more rigorous course of study to be more STEM-ready (science, technology, engineering and math). Over the last 10 years, Mississippi Scholars has grown from 2 pilot school districts to 91 schools districts and honored more than 31,000 graduates.
MEC’s Mississippi Scholars Tech Master program – the companion program to Mississippi Scholars – is completing its first full year. The program encourages students to take a tech-prep course of study and recognizes those students who meet performance benchmarks for career-readiness. The Tech Master program has grown from 7 pilot counties to 51 counties and 75 school districts across the state and recognized over 1,000 graduates. The 75 districts exceeded the first-year goal of 30 districts.
The Mississippi Scholars and Mississippi Scholars Tech Master programs were created to meet the Blueprint Mississippi goal to “Cultivate a More Robust Workforce in Mississippi.” These programs are designed to create the skilled and educated workforce that is critical to building a strong economy in our state.