State Bank has announced a $50,000 donation to Texas A&M University-Texarkana to establish the "State Bank Scholars" scholarship program.

The gift will fund two scholarships of $5,000 each per year, which will be presented to recent high school graduates with a minimum ACT score of 22 or a minimum 3.40 high school grade-point average. The students must be business majors and maintain a 3.0 grade-point average with successful completion of a minimum of 24 credit hours a year.

Joe Nichols, State Bank’s Chairman and CEO, said he is “excited that A&M-Texarkana and The Texas A&M University System are committed to growing the local campus student population.”

“We have a number of employees including Chris Lannom, our Texarkana Market President, who graduated from A&M-Texarkana. They are all well-educated and outstanding community bankers.”

“We are so very excited and honored to receive this very generous donation for much-needed scholarships for our students,” said President Dr. Emily Cutrer of A&M-Texarkana. “Privately funded scholarships are the key to maintaining a margin of excellence in attracting and retaining students. Expanding student scholarships is among our top priorities as an institution.”

“It is great to see local businesses and individuals who support the effort to provide higher education opportunities for the next generation,” Nichols said. “State Bank is honored to participate.”

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