 Belfrey High School Senior Hayley Blackburn says she's proud to be a Robinson Scholar. She says she's sad to think that she may be one of the last. Hayley Blackburn is looking forward to her education at the University of Kentucky, paid in full through the Robinson Scholar's program. I can't wait. I'm very excited. But the program is on the chopping block. It's one of 70 programs to have funding eliminated in the governor's proposed budget. The program is rigorous and requires academic excellence. It's also open only to first generation college students in eastern Kentucky, and Hayley hopes she's not in the final class. I will still be a Robinson Scholar, but the future of the program is still at risk and I wouldn't be able to help younger kids than me to have this opportunity. It was really heartbreaking to see that something so successful, we actually had the highest retention rates of one of the programs at UK, of anybody at UK. And I just think it was really heartbreaking to see that they were willing to take such a successful program away. The Robinson Scholar program is one of several education-based programs slated to lose funding in Governor Matt Bevan's proposed budget. Hayley says without the Robinson Scholar program, she likely never would have the opportunity to attend the University of Kentucky. UK spokesperson Jay Blanton told EKB News that UK plans to honor any scholarship commitment it's made. He also said the university understands the challenges associated with the state's budgetary needs. Hayley said she hopes funding for the Robinson Scholar's program and other education programs can be found. A funding for education is funding for the future, in my opinion. You're not going to have a successful society in the future, especially here in Eastern Kentucky unless you have educated people who are going to come back and work to build this community. And Robinson Scholar is all about respecting your app watch and heritage and like learning about why you should love your area. And so I'm really proud to be a Robinson Scholar and I would love to see it just continue to help people from Eastern Kentucky like it has helped me. In Pike County, Chris Anderson, EKB News.