Lance Hill ’95 had a friend while at Plymouth State who couldn’t afford to finish his degree. “He ended up leaving and never came back,” Hill says. “It was really unfortunate. I wish there had been emergency scholarships available then or some way he could have stayed in college.”
That friend, and students in the same position today, inspired Hill to donate generously to the Plymouth Opportunity Scholarship Angel Fund, which provides the kind of support his friend needed: just-in-time assistance that makes it possible for students to complete their degree program.
Growing up in a small, rural town with limited means near the border of Vermont gave Hill the perspective that education is the gateway to economic opportunity and freedom. “Statistics show if you get a college degree, over the course of your career, you’ll make a million-plus more than someone with a high school diploma,” he says.
He chose Plymouth State because it was close (but not too close) to home, and he received scholarships and paid in-state tuition, graduating with no debt. “Plymouth State had good faculty. The campus was nice: small and intimate. Overall, I got a good value going to school there,” he adds.
While on campus, Hill focused on and earned a degree in accounting. Even though he graduated at the tail end of a recession, he found a job in public accounting in Boston. Later on in his career, he shifted into finance in the manufacturing sector. He is now the chief financial officer of a packaging equipment manufacturer in Pinellas Park, Florida, and lives to the north in Clearwater.
“Higher education is the key to economic mobility, especially in the Unites States,” he says. “It’s the reason so many kids from other countries want to go to school over here. If you come from low-income areas like I did, it’s the way to get out and make a better life for yourself. Plymouth State was the avenue for which I was able to do that.”
In addition to Plymouth State, Hill contributes to a scholarship fund at his high school with one of his classmates. “We’re trying to help kids like us,” he says, adding, “If you want to help kids have more opportunities in life, you have to support education at all levels. That will help give them the chance to do what they want, where they want to do it.”
BECOME A PLYMOUTH OPPORTUNITY ANGEL
Would you like to help provide just-in-time financial support to deserving students who might not otherwise have the resources to continue attending Plymouth State? Become a Plymouth Opportunity Angel like Lance by making your gift online at give.plymouth.edu/angel-fund.
There are many ways to make your gift, including monthly automatic payments, qualified charitable distributions from your IRA, donations through your donor-advised fund, gifts of stock or property, or establishing a legacy gift in your will. For more information, contact Director of Development John Scheinman P’19, P’21G by phone at (603) 535-2805 or via e-mail at jscheinman@plymouth.edu.
