HARRISBURG – Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Scott Martin (R-Lancaster) today highlighted the tremendous progress made during the first year of the Grow PA program to help connect young people to quality careers in Pennsylvania.
The Grow PA Scholarship Grant Program was created last year to help reverse the trend of young Pennsylvanians seeking education and job opportunities in other states. The program offers grants of up to $5,000 per year for in-state students who agree to attend college in Pennsylvania, pursue a degree in an in-demand occupation and work in that occupation in Pennsylvania after graduation.
As part of Act 89 of 2024 — the law that established the Grow PA program — the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) is required to provide an annual report to the governor, the secretary of Education and the General Assembly detailing the performance of the program.
The report released today detailed more than 11,000 applications for Grow PA in the first year, as of Nov. 6. More than 4,000 applicants have already received grants, and another 2,300 applications were approved through early December, according to PHEAA.
“Because of Grow PA, 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. “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.”
According to the report, the average award per student was $4,650.
PHEAA noted that the applications not approved included more than 3,000 applications that were incomplete and approximately 1,600 applicants that were deemed ineligible.
The top programs of study in the first year of Grow PA included registered nursing, early childhood education, business administration and management, biological sciences and accounting. In addition, programs involving computer science, engineering, trades, agriculture and criminal justice combined to make up hundreds of additional grant award recipients.
Martin complimented PHEAA for their tireless work in administering the program and keeping policymakers up to date on the progress of the program at every step of the process.
“The bottom line is this: the first year of this program proves that the student-centered Grow PA model works. This innovative approach forces our state to be better investors of taxpayer dollars and focuses on the careers our economy desperately needs to reverse Pennsylvania’s decades of economic and demographic decline,” Martin said. “I deeply appreciate the amazing work that PHEAA has done to get this new program up and running, and I look forward to working with them in the months ahead to build on the success of the program in Year Two.”
The application period for Grow PA Scholarship Grant program is expected to open in early February. The recently approved 2025-26 state budget included an additional $7.5 million for Grow PA, which should allow for grant funding for approximately 1,500 additional students in the 2026-27 academic year.
More details on the program are available at pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/grow-pa-scholarship-grant-program.
CONTACT: Jason Thompson