View Larger Image College of Health Professions students hold certificates of scholarship while gathering on the lobby stairs in the Rahn Education Building after a scholarship reception that recognized scholarship donors and student recipients.
College of Health Professions students hold certificates of scholarship while gathering on the lobby stairs in the Rahn Education Building after a scholarship reception that recognized scholarship donors and student recipients. Image by Andrew Vogler

College of Health Professions Celebrates Students, Donors at Scholarship Reception

By Ben Boulden

| The UAMS College of Health Professions brought together and celebrated both the students who recently received scholarships and many of the donors who support them.

At the Sept. 5 reception, College of Health Professions Dean Susan Long, Ed.D., said the average debt of an in-state undergraduate student is $35,000, while an in-state graduate student’s debt is more than twice that at about $75,000.

“Because of the generosity of our donors, we have been able to award over $100,000 in student scholarships to 57 students this year,” Long said. “However, with increasing enrollment, this equates to only 3% of our students. Obviously, there is more work to be done to help students afford a higher education.”

She added that the college’s Fall 2024 enrollment is anticipated to be almost 1,800 students, which is about a 25% increase over the same time last year. Over the last five years, overall enrollment in the college has increased by about 170%, accounting for 44% of all UAMS students. That means the need and competition for scholarships is also greater.

A scholarship recipient and a student in the Master of Science Genetic Counseling program, Chester Kyle Sy, spoke on behalf of the students.

“Being awarded a scholarship is a testament to the fact that what goes on behind the scenes does not go unnoticed, it is an acknowledgement of all our different experiences, the journeys we have led and the paths we continue to walk on.”

Sy said he unexpectedly received a cancer diagnosis two years ago but is now cancer free as confirmed by bloodwork and medical imaging. That experience has motivated him even further as he has embarked on a career providing to others the same sort of counseling he received and passing on what he has learned from his patient experience.

“While I cannot say that everything happens for a reason,” Sy said. “I am certain we can derive reasons from the challenges we face. Thank you, donors, for recognizing my story and the stories of my peers.”

Phyllis Fields, M.Ed., the college’s associate dean for student affairs, announced the names of the recipients. Long presented them with certificates and recognized the donors at the reception in Bruce Commons in the Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building on the Little Rock campus.