LAS VEGAS — Graduating Clark County high school students who show the potential to make a significant contribution to the cause of economic liberty should seek a $2,500 college scholarship being awarded by the Nevada Policy Research Institute.
This is the fourth year that the Professor R.S. Nigam & NPRI Freedom Scholarship is being offered. It is open to all Clark County high school students — whether they attend a public, private, online or home school — who plan to attend college beginning in the fall of 2014.
This year students interested in applying for the scholarship are asked to write a two-page essay on this topic:
Downtown sports arena: public or private funding?
The Las Vegas City Council is considering a proposal to give government handouts to a private company to build a downtown sports arena. Should Las Vegas subsidize a sports arena? What pitfalls could come from the government picking winners and losers in the economy? Provide examples of similar projects from around the country, and how those projects turned out.
“This scholarship provides a great opportunity for the next generation of thinkers to begin thinking about and formulating arguments in favor of free markets,” said Swadeep Nigam, who funded the scholarship program in the name of his father, an advocate of freedom and a professor of business in India and Nevada.
While the idea of the government picking winners and losers in the economy is always a relevant topic, the essay question of publicly subsidized sports arenas is particularly timely given the Las Vegas City Council’s ongoing consideration of such a plan, Nigam added.
All applicants must have a grade point average of at least 3.2 and complete an application, which includes the above essay question.
To be eligible, a student’s parents must have earned less than $125,000 in income in 2013, and the student must plan to attend a four-year degree program in business, economics, political science, public administration or a related field, at an accredited college or university.
Professor R.S. Nigam was a director of the Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi, a visiting professor at the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a senior fellow at the University of Wisconsin, in addition to academic engagements in Europe, the West Indies and Asia, including North Korea.
“This scholarship is a fitting way to honor Professor R.S. Nigam, who was devoted not only to free-market thinking, but education,” NPRI President Andy Matthews said of the professor who taught at UNLV, among other institutions across the globe. “We appreciate the opportunity to help an upcoming Clark County graduate further his or her education and honor Professor Nigam.”
Essays and applications are due to NPRI by April 5, 2014.
Full details of the scholarship and applicant requirements are available at: http://www.npri.org/docLib/20140218_ScholarshipApplication2014.docx
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