For the third year, visitors to the Pennsylvania State Farm Show will have the opportunity to win a $1,000 scholarship to a State System of Higher Education university.

Five scholarships will be awarded in a drawing to be held at the conclusion of the six-day agricultural exposition, which will run from January 6-11, 2001. Visitors to the State System booth at the Farm Show will be able to sign up for the scholarship drawing.

Funding for the scholarships again is being provided by Pepsi-Cola Co. The scholarships will be good for up to 10 years and will be able to be applied to the cost of tuition and fees at any of the 14 state-owned universities.

Last year’s scholarship winners included a junior at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania; a sixth-grade student at Hershey Middle School; and an East Petersburg, Lancaster County, woman whose husband was attending classes at Dixon University Center while working toward a master’s degree in library science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

The State System booth will be situated in the Main Exposition Hall and will be open throughout the Farm Show. Visitors may stop by to pick up information about any of the System universities. Admissions and financial aid officers from the campuses also will be on hand to answer any questions potential students and parents may have.

New this year will be mini-financial aid seminars that will be offered throughout each day of the Farm Show by the campus personnel and officials from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. The seminars will last about 15 minutes each and will be designed to help inform potential college students and their parents about how to save and pay for college.

The Farm Show opens at 9 a.m. Jan. 6. Exhibition Hall operating hours will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day through Jan. 10 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 11. It is billed as the largest indoor agricultural exposition in the nation.

With more than 96,000 students, the State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 360,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.