Access to higher education often requires considerable financial wherewithal, but not for the incoming class of Morehead-Cain scholars expected at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Sixty-six high school students from around the world were recently selected by the Morehead-Cain Foundation to have all of their educational expenses covered for the next four years.

The students will complete their undergraduate degrees as Tar Heels while pursuing independent study initiatives funded by the Morehead-Cain Discovery Fund.

The prestigious merit scholarship program also puts recipients through four summers of developmental activities that include outdoor leadership courses and public service.

Among those 66 recipients is Lucas Cole Risinger, a graduating senior at East Chapel Hill High School who aspires to study applied mathematics and economics.

International students from Albania, Canada, England, Italy and Singapore were also selected by the foundation to matriculate with the class of 2021.

Only three percent of nominees are awarded the scholarship, which was created in 1951 after John Motley Morehead III bequeathed $130 million to the university.

Notable recipients include Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Reps. Jim Cooper and David Price, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

Photo by Morehead-Cain Foundation.

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