Congratulations to our College Completion Scholarship Winner

September 7, 2026

AnnYager McCrosky left Mars Hill in 1995 to run her family’s business — now she’s returning to finish the degree she started three decades ago.

More than three decades after she first stepped onto the Mars Hill campus, AnnYager McCrosky is coming back to finish what she started. McCrosky is the winner of this year’s College Completion Scholarship from Mars Hill University, which will cover her tuition and textbooks as she completes the bachelor’s degree she began in 1994.

McCrosky enrolled at Mars Hill College fresh out of high school that August, but left before finishing her degree, drawn home to Kentucky to help run her family’s business. “I left Mars Hill because it taught me that my heart was in my family business in my hometown in Kentucky,” she wrote in her contest entry essay.

Now, with 32 years of experience running that business behind her, McCrosky knows exactly what she wants from a degree. She plans to pursue her studies through Mars Hill’s Adult and Graduate Studies program. “I would love to finish what I started 32 years ago,” she wrote.

McCrosky also hopes to complete her degree with her family in mind. “I also have a 9 year old daughter and would love to have my bachelor’s before she goes to high school,” she wrote.

This is the fifth year Mars Hill has held the College Completion Scholarship contest, which awards one full-tuition scholarship to an adult pursuing a bachelor’s degree through Adult Studies online programs. The scholarship is designed for adults who started college but had to step away, as well as for those who never had the opportunity to pursue a degree in the first place. Mars Hill also extends tiered discounts to other top-ranked nominees each year.