Scholarships will help 5,497 students pay for college

USA Funds awards nearly $8.2 million in scholarships

INDIANAPOLIS — USA Funds^®, the nation’s leading education-loan guarantor, announces the award of nearly $8.2 million in scholarships to help 5,497 low-to-moderate-income students nationwide pursue higher education.

USA Funds awarded $3.5 million in scholarships to 2,334 first-time recipients of USA Funds Access to Education Scholarships^® for the 2006-2007 academic year. In addition, USA Funds awarded nearly $4.7 million in renewal scholarships to 3,163 students who previously had received awards under the program.

“These scholarships will help academically qualified students overcome financial barriers that otherwise may have prevented them from attending college,” said Henry L. Fernandez, USA Funds executive director, scholarships, outreach and philanthropy. “Consistent with USA Funds’ nonprofit mission to enhance higher-education preparedness, access and success, we are pleased to help these students pay for postsecondary education.”

To qualify for the scholarships, students must come from households with annual incomes of $35,000 or less. Full-time and half-time undergraduate students, as well as full-time graduate and professional students, are eligible for $1,500 scholarships.

If a scholarship recipient maintains a grade-point average of at least 2.5, the scholarship may be renewed annually until the student receives a degree or certificate, or the total amount awarded reaches $6,000, whichever comes first.

View a list of first-time USA Funds scholarship recipients for 2006-2007.

Information about USA Funds’ 2007-2008 scholarship program will be posted beginning Oct. 2 on USA Funds’ Web site.