A nonprofit organization that serves 21 communities — including Cheshire and several towns in the Naugatuck Valley — is beefing up its commitment to a college scholarship program it offers.
Connecticut Community Foundation is doubling the maximum amount of scholarships it awards to individual students, from $1,000 to $2,000 per year for two- and four-year institutions, and from $500 to $1,000 a year for community colleges, said Liz Acas, a spokeswoman for the organization, which also serves residents of Beacon Falls, Middlebury, Naugatuck and Oxford.
Applications for the 2007 scholarship went out to area high school guidance offices earlier this month, Acas said. “We’ve been awarding scholarships since 1989, and our board felt it was time to re-evaluate the process, and the increase came out of that process,” she said.
The Foundation awarded 257 scholarships and awards totaling $334,276 in 2006.
The organization also is responding to increasing college costs by making more scholarships available to students in its service area who attend college out of state, Acas said. Money from the organization’s unrestricted pool had previously only been available to students attending school in Connecticut, she said.
“We consider a variety of factors in awarding the unrestricted scholarships,” Acas said. Among factors considered are a student’s high school extra-curricular activities, grades, the difficulty of courses and the financial situation of the applicant’s family, she said.
The Foundation also awards scholarships that are restricted based upon a variety of factors, established by donors with specific criteria such as students from a particular town or pursuing a certain field of study.
“We’re not able to fund everyone’s requests, but a majority of people who apply and meet the qualifications receive some kind of scholarships,” Acas said.
The number of scholarships awarded by the foundation has increased by nearly 36 percent over the past five years. Some applicants qualify for both restricted and unrestricted scholarships from the foundation, so the number awarded each year doesn’t necessarily translate into the number of individuals served on a one-to-one ratio, Acas said.
The foundation has nearly 80 named scholarship funds established by local residents for the benefit of students throughout the region.
Applications can be obtained online at www.conncf.org and at area high school guidance offices. Completed applications must be postmarked by March 1.
(www.nhregister.com)
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