Scholarship awards worth $90,000 have been handed out to ten students planning to further their education overseas.

Erek Fox, Shaydrina Hassell, Jayné Smith and Antionay Tankard are all flying off to launch university careers after scooping grants from the Ross (Blackie) Talbot Charity Classic.

Second-year awardees were R. Andra Bassett, Vanessa Bean, Terrence Daniels, Sharneil Paynter, Dietra Trott and Deneca Zuill.

Following a ceremony in the Bank of Bermuda on Wednesday, Mr. Fox, 21, who won $5,000 and is now heading to Acadia University to major in kinesiology told The Royal Gazette: "This not only diminishes my financial strain, but in getting this award and seeing the amount of support I receive from others, it encourages me to pursue my goals."

Ms Smith, 22, who won $15,000 and is going to major in business at Kean University, said: "Without this assistance, I would not be able to enter university, so this is a big help for myself and my family."

Ms Tankard, 20, who won $10,000 and will major in business at Howard University, said: "This makes things a lot easier for my parents."

Ms Trott, a mature student, said she had been a para-educator at Berkeley Institute before a grant last year enabled her to train as a maths educator at West Virginia University.

She said: "I wanted to become the teacher — but financially I wouldn't have been able to do it."

The RBTCC has now provided nearly 30 students with more than $335,000 in education awards.

RBTCC chair Clement Talbot said: "We had numerous applicants this year and only wish we had the funds to assist each and every one of the students who applied for an education award."

United Bermuda Party Senator Jeanne Atherden, chair of the awards selection committee, said many students were not able to achieve their best results because they were too busy doing part-time jobs to ensure they could pay for their studies.

"We all find it most gratifying that the RBTCC is able to assist these young Bermudians to complete their education," she said.

"Our community at large will ultimately benefit from their qualifications, skills and knowledge."