More than 4,000 Pennsylvania college students pursuing degrees in high-demand fields received state-funded scholarships this year, thanks to a state law passed in 2024.

Under the GROW PA Scholarship Program, the students are eligible to receive the scholarships in exchange for a commitment to work at least one year in the state after graduation for every year they received scholarship funding. If graduates don’t satisfy the residency requirement, their scholarships will be converted to loans.

The scholarship program was created through Act 89, passed at the time of the 2024-25 budget deal in July 2024.

State Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster, was the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 1150, the legislation that became Act 89 after it was signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro. The legislation requires PHEAA to produce an annual report on the scholarship program. The initial annual report was released last week, tracking the scholarship awards through Nov. 6.

“We’re now going to have thousands of young people graduating with less debt and ready to take on family-sustaining, high-demand jobs right here in Pennsylvania,” Martin said in a statement. “Getting a commitment from these young people to live and work in the careers our community needs most gives them a chance to buy a home here, get married here and plant their roots here so we stop the flow of talented young people leaving PA for opportunities in other states.”

The average scholarship amount was $4,650. More than $5.3 million in scholarships were awarded, according to a report on the program completed by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

The scholarships were available to college students pursuing degrees leading to 72 different job types.

“After the passage of Grow PA’s enabling legislation, PHEAA met with various stakeholders for preliminary discussions around the legislative intent of various components of the legislation and the methodology to develop the lists of eligible in-demand occupations and programs of study that lead to these occupations,” Bethany Coleman, PHEAA’s vice president of public relations, communications and marketing, said in an email to CapitolWire/State Affairs. “These interested parties included the Department of Labor & Industry, the state Independent Fiscal Office, and other industry and legislative groups.”

The largest number of scholarships went to students pursuing degrees in nursing.

Top programs

Most popular programs for GROW PA scholarships:

Nursing: 507 recipients

Early childhood education: 270 recipients

Business administration/management: 178 recipients

Biology: 140 recipients

Accounting: 127 recipients

Elementary education: 119 recipients

Special education: 102 recipients