MSSU student receives Pearson Prize for Higher Education

A Missouri Southern State University student has been selected as one of the recipients of the Pearson Prize for Higher Education, a national award focusing on students giving back to their college community.

Joplin native Brenda Barger-Saunders, an MSSU respiratory therapy major, is one of 70 students selected of the 10,000 applicants for the award, according to an MSSU news release.

Barger-Saunders will receive a $5,000 grant and an additional $5,000 grant next January, the release said.

Barger-Saunders, who returned to school after 24 years of working in pharmaceutical sales, has been active in the Peers Against Second Hand Smoke campaign at MSSU.

Tia Strait, dean of the MSSU School of Technology, said the Pearson Prize is a major award.

"Brenda is one of only a small number of people across the nation named as Pearson Prize Community Fellow," Strait said in the release. "We feel this reflects very positively on her work as a student and the quality of education offered at Missouri Southern State University."

Selection requirements for the award include completion of at least one year in college, a demonstration of leadership in community service and enrollment in a two- or four-year school.

The Pearson Prize is awarded by the Pearson Foundation, the nonprofit arm of United Kingdom-based international media company Pearson PLC.
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