Entrepreneurs’ $4M Fund Offers Scholarships to Students

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ A couple set up a $4 million scholarship fund upon their deaths to give higher education opportunities to Wisconsin and Minnesota students who wouldn't otherwise have the option.

Reports say that Wisconsin entrepreneurs Marty Ryan and Richard Sterbenz lacked formal educations but amassed a fortune running several businesses.

Longtime friend Karen Hansen says the couple established the Sterbenz-Ryan Scholarships to ``give kids like them a shot at life that they never had.''

The scholarships will be awarded annually to about 100 students. Eligible applicants include students attending a vocational-technical school; high school students from the St. Croix River Valley attending a two- or four-year college; or students attending Metro State University in St. Paul, Century College in White Bear Lake or Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College.