SHERIDAN (WNE) — Wyoming students looking to pursue postsecondary education in state and use the Hathaway Scholarship will see an increase of awards.

Gov. Mark Gordon signed Senate File 47, “Increase of Hathaway scholarship awards,” into law Feb. 27.

The Hathaway Scholarship can be used at the University of Wyoming or at any community college in the state of Wyoming. The four tiers of the scholarship include honors, performance, opportunity and provisional. Students eligible for the different tiers receive the scholarship money per semester at an eligible institution if enrolled for 12 or more semester hours.

Effective July 1, the provisional tier will be increased from $840 to $1,180; opportunity will be increased from $840 to $1,180; the performance tier will see an increase from $1,260 to $1,770, and the honors tier will be increased from $1,680 to $2,360.

Sheridan County School District 3 Superintendent Chase Christensen said in the course of his career, the Hathaway Scholarship moved from something that was truly enticing students to stay in Wyoming to becoming something that was not a true factor in the decision they were making.

Christensen hopes the increase in the tiers will influence more students to stay in the Cowboy State.

“I think we’ve got a gem of an education system all the way up through the university and if we can entice our kids to stick around and take advantage of it, it’s better for us (and) better for them,” he said.