Grants are available for 60 eligible first-year, full-time students at the campus through the generosity of Dixon, Lebanon businessman and HACC benefactor. In addition, as many as 40 students who are returning to the Lebanon Campus for their second consecutive year may be eligible for a $500 tuition assistance grant for the fall semester, said Stephan Vegoe, foundation executive director.

The April 12 deadline was extended to make more scholarships available to potential recipients. There were not enough applicants to guarantee that all 60 available grants are used for the fall term, Vegoe said. A first-time applicant must be a resident of Lebanon and a 2008 graduate of a Lebanon County high school or a home schooled graduate.

The Dixon Tuition Assistance Program has been most helpful to Lebanon County parents Philip Sr. and Carolyn Rissler, who have home schooled all of their 12 children. Grace, 23, Faith, 21 and Philip II, 20, are full-time students at the Lebanon Campus and received Dixon grants. Andrew, 18, enrolled there this spring while Matthew, 16, takes classes at the Lancaster Campus and studies with his brothers and sisters at the Lebanon Campus.

Because the three older Rissler children were home schooled, they had to do their “homework” to find out about the Dixon Foundation grants, whereas Lebanon County high school students generally hear about it from the guidance counselors.

“The grant money is very important to our children’s educations,” said Philip Rissler Sr. “I can provide my children with transportation and room and board at home while they attend college, but they have to pay their own college expenses. The grant money reduces the amount they have to borrow for their education.

“HACC is a great place for homeschoolers to start college as it’s close to home and the cost is more reasonable than many other colleges,” Rissler said.

The Francis J. Dixon Foundation was founded 19 years ago by the Dixon, chairman of Brandywine Recyclers Inc., headquartered in Lebanon, and has already helped more than 2,000 students.

A self-described World War II dropout, Dixon bases his community activism on words of wisdom from his mother, noting she told him if he gave back more than he took, he would get back 10 times more than he gave.

Dixon, who received an honorary doctorate of public service from HACC in 2002, has been described as “the phoenix” for the Lebanon Campus of HACC, allowing it to rise from the flames of a 1991 fire that destroyed the campus and several nearby businesses downtown.

In addition to the tuition assistance grants, Dixon has also supported Lebanon’s Good Samaritan Hospital’s emergency center and entrance, as well as the Frank and Elsie Dixon Progressive Care Unit.

Eligibility requirements for a Dixon tuition assistance grant

To apply for a tuition assistance grant available through the Francis J. Dixon Foundation, the applicant must:

• Be a 2008 graduate of a high school in Lebanon County,
• Be a resident of Lebanon County,
• Enroll as a full-time student at HACC’s Lebanon Campus (part-time students are not eligible; all courses must be taken at the Lebanon Campus),
• Have a family income that does not exceed $80,000 per year, and
• Provide an essay of no more than 250 words on how the grant will help you achieve your educational goals, including why you want to start your post-secondary education at the Lebanon Campus.

High school counselors have copies of the application.

For more information, call the Francis J. Dixon Foundation at 389-0995.