Scholarship Alert! Grant Helps TRIO Students Pursue Scholarships

For the second consecutive year, USA Funds^® has awarded a grant of $120,000 to the Council for Opportunity in Education to help low-income students pursue scholarships for higher education.

The Council will use the grant to support its Scholarship Alert! Program, which promotes scholarship programs to students participating in federal TRIO programs, in 10 states — eight of which are those that USA Funds serves as the designated guarantor of federal education loans. USA Funds is the designated guarantor in Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada and Wyoming. Scholarship Alert! programs in California and Florida also will receive funding from the USA Funds grant.

Scholarship Alert! identifies private scholarship or grant programs in each state, communicates eligibility and application information for those scholarships to TRIO students, and encourages interaction between the scholarship funders and TRIO programs.

From the funding, $40,000 will support scholarships to students in the 10 states' participating TRIO programs.

"By bringing together private-scholarship funders and students in TRIO programs, Scholarship Alert! helps more would-be college students become aware of scholarship availability," said Angelica Vialpando, director of state outreach for the Council for Opportunity in Education. "The grant from USA Funds will enhance college access, college choice and college-completion rates of TRIO students in these states."

The Council expects that at least 2,000 students will apply for private scholarships or grants in the target states because of Scholarship Alert! and that at least $150,000 in scholarships and grants will be awarded to those students as a result.

"USA Funds is pleased to provide continued support for this innovative program, which helps lower-income students overcome financial barriers to higher education," said Carl Dalstrom, USA Funds president and CEO.

The Council for Opportunity in Education is a nonprofit organization, established in 1981, dedicated to furthering the expansion of educational opportunities throughout the United States. Through its numerous membership services, the Council works in conjunction with colleges, universities and agencies that host TRIO programs to specifically help low-income Americans enter college and graduate.

Federal TRIO programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math Science, Veterans Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Centers and Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement programs) help students to overcome socioeconomic, academic and cultural barriers to higher education.