LEWISTON – A new scholarship fund, established through the efforts of Lewiston-Auburn community leaders Lucien and AnnaRose Gosselin, will make it easier for students to realize their dreams of a bachelor’s degree. The L-A Bridge Scholarship, an endowed fund of the University of Southern Maine Foundation, will provide financial assistance to Lewiston-Auburn students at Central Maine Community College (CMCC) who plan to transfer to USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College (USM-LAC).

“We are conveying our precise desires to benefit Lewiston-Auburn residents, to assist students in their aspirations to ‘bridge’ an associate degree from CMCC to a baccalaureate degree from USM, and to make this opportunity available at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn campus,” said AnnaRose. “We made the decision to raise the endowment fund so that the L-A Bridge Scholarship will remain ‘in perpetuity’ – forever.”

“This scholarship is a great incentive for Lewiston-Auburn residents to further their education in the pursuit of a professional career, which will in turn continue to build a sustainable workforce with greater skills and knowledge to strengthen our community and the economic health of this region,” said Lucien.

Lucien was one of the early proponents of establishing a USM campus in Lewiston and has been a member of the USM-LAC Community Advisory Board for 25 years.

“This new scholarship fund is exciting because it reinforces the close ties between our two institutions, ‘bridging’ the community college in Auburn and the university in Lewiston,” said Joyce Gibson, dean of USM-LAC. “We want to thank Lucien and AnnaRose for recognizing the value and necessity of increasing the opportunity for students to achieve a bachelor’s degree in our region.”

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