Revamped Program Offers New Scholarships for Students
By Michael Walsh
The Student Government Association scholarship committee has announced the 10 types of scholarships it will be giving away to full-time students planning to attend CCSU in the upcoming fall semester.
Twenty-six scholarships, totaling $28,000, will be awarded in the following 10 categories: working student, improved student scholarships, returning student, up the hill, down the hill, commuter, book scholarships, course study abroad, semester abroad and childcare scholarships.
According to Jamie Canny, chair of the scholarship committee, the SGA completely redid the program.
“The only scholarship students might recognize is the book scholarship, however, the questions and amounts are different this year,” said Canny.
Scholarships will be chosen through a blind application process with names and personal information being withheld from the application evaluators.
“A selection committee made up of several senators with diverse values, backgrounds and opinions, including myself and my co-chair [Senator] Nick Alaimo, will be selecting the winners based on credentials that we created,” said Canny. “These students are not eligible to apply for any SGA scholarships.”
All full-time students are eligible to apply for at least one scholarship, so long as they’re not on academic probation.
“The application process gives all students an equal chance at winning,” said Canny.
The working student scholarship is intended for students who work 20 or more hours at a job while attending CCSU. The scholarships, which according to the SGA are meant to “help alleviate the pressures of working on top of being a full-time student,” are worth $1,500 each. Two will be awarded.
Two improved student scholarships, each worth $2,000, will be awarded to students that have shown improvement in academic standing, extracurricular involvement and an increase in student leadership.
A single returning student scholarship worth $2,000 will be awarded to a student who was unable to finish their higher education following high school, but has now made it a top priority.
The up the hill and down the hill scholarships are intended to award students that live on campus. One $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a student living “up the hill” in either Robert Vance Hall, Thomas Gallaudet Hall, Sam May or Robert Sheridan and one $1,000 scholarship will be given to a student living “down the hill” in either Catherine Beecher Hall, F. Don James Hall, Catherine Carroll Hall, Mildred Barrows Hall or Seth North Hall.
Alternatively, three $1,000 scholarships will be given to commuter students.
To help offset the high prices some students have to pay for their textbooks, four $500 book scholarships will be awarded to students. According to SGA’s description, the scholarship will not be awarded in time to buy books for the fall 2011 semester.
In an effort to help students visit a new country, two course abroad scholarships worth $2,000 each will be awarded to students seeking to take a trip over winter break 2012, spring break 2012 or summer 2012. SGA will give preference to students who have not yet studied abroad. Also, five $1,000 semester abroad scholarships will be awarded to students planing to spend a semester in another country in the spring of 2012 or the fall of 2012.
The SGA will also award two $1,050 scholarships to help subsidize half of the “drop in care” at the CCSU Early Childhood Learning Center. In addition, two $500 scholarships and one $400 scholarship will also be awarded in this category.
The deadline to apply for one of the 26 available scholarships is March 16. Applications can be picked up in the SGA office, room 211 on the second floor of the student center.
