NEODESHA, Kan. — A small southeast Kansas town hopes a new program offering free college tuition to graduates of the local high school will help attract new residents.

A wealthy former resident of the town announced the scholarship offer last month.

Ben Cutler said he doesn’t think he would have been nearly as successful in life without his Neodesha upbringing in the 1950s and 1960s.

Cutler declined to say how much he donated, but he estimates it should be enough to cover at least 25 years of college costs for the town’s graduates. Cutler is a retired former CEO of USHealth Group, which provides health insurance to small businesses and the self employed.

To qualify, students must have attended local schools since at least the sixth grade and graduate with at least a C average.

The aid can be used at any college, but is capped at an amount equal to the highest in-state tuition for 120 credit hours at state school. Currently, that amounts to about $44,000 for four years.