USA Funds-Supported Program Provides Scholarships to Indiana Students and Their Heroes

The annual Hoosier Heroes Celebration in Indianapolis recently honored 10 high school students and their heroes and provided them with scholarships.

Hoosier Heroes is a program of Indiana Dollars for Scholars. The program invites high school juniors and seniors across the state to nominate their heroes through an essay contest. Students submitted 600 nominations for Hoosier Heroes, for their role models such as teachers, parents, church group leaders, sports figures, politicians, authors, scientists, doctors, nurses and business leaders.

USA Funds^® has supported Hoosier Heroes for five years, and this year provided a $70,000 grant to the program.

One student nomination from each of 10 categories received recognition for its writing quality, persuasiveness, research completed, inspirational value and thoughtfulness. Students selected will receive a $2,000 college scholarship, and each hero will receive an additional $2,000 scholarship to award to an Indiana high school of the hero’s choice.

“With the rising cost of tuition, scholarships are an increasingly important resource for those aspiring to obtain a postsecondary degree,” says Don Setterlof, executive director, Indiana Dollars for Scholars. “The Hoosier Heroes scholarship program grants access to those essential funds while providing students the opportunity to honor Hoosiers whose accomplishments have inspired them.”

In recognition of Scholarship Month in Indiana, the celebration also recognized the efforts of the more than 100 Indiana Dollars for Scholars chapters and volunteers who raise money to award scholarships for their local youth. In 2008 the chapters awarded more than $2.2 million in scholarships to more than 3,100 Hoosier students. 

Indiana Dollars for Scholars, a program of Scholarship America, is a state network of community-based, volunteer-operated scholarship foundations. The mission of Indiana Dollars for Scholars is to expand access to higher education and to encourage the educational preparation of Hoosier students.

“Indiana Dollars for Scholars is working to expand access to higher education in the state of Indiana, and that work is directly in line with our mission at USA Funds,” says Bob Ballard, USA Funds senior vice president, program and corporate development, and Indiana Dollars for Scholars board chair.

“The Hoosier Heroes program is an excellent opportunity to provide scholarships for students and recognize individuals who make a difference in the lives of these students,” Ballard says. “USA Funds is pleased to be a part of this program and to award scholarships to these deserving students and their heroes.”