Next Indiana, GRAD Select Students to Receive USA Funds-Sponsored Scholarships

Two Indiana students recently were selected to receive scholarships that USA Funds^® is sponsoring for undergraduate and graduate education in Indiana.

Marcus Cossey, a recent graduate of South Bend Riley High School, will receive a $1,500 scholarship to attend an Indiana postsecondary institution. Paul Fulghum, a senior at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, will be awarded a $1,500 scholarship to pursue graduate education at an Indiana school.

USA Funds, the designated guarantor of federal education loans in Indiana, is sponsoring the scholarships through the 2007-2008 editions of Next Indiana: A Guide to Life After High School and GRAD magazines. USA Funds was the corporate sponsor of the publications.

Cossey, 18, plans to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., to study computer and information technology. He’s not yet sure where his career path might take him, but has had an interest in computers and technology for years.

“Computer classes were always my favorite classes,” Cossey says.

Fulghum is considering the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne or IPFW for his graduate work. He currently is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and plans to continue his education-related studies in graduate school.

At 40, Fulghum is working toward his second bachelor’s degree, having received an undergraduate degree in organizational leadership and supervision from IPFW in 1994. He works as a credit counselor part time to help fund his full-time college work.

“I was rather shocked when I learned I’d been selected for the GRAD scholarship,” Fulghum says. “It makes me more confident to know that this will help take care of the expenses. I feel more confident that this is what was meant to be.”

Cossey and Fulghum were among the thousands of Indiana high school and college students who returned reply cards from Next Indiana and GRAD. Their names were selected at random from names on the cards, which permitted students to request information about careers, Indiana schools and Indiana companies.

Next Indiana provides information about the options available to students after high school and about topics such as handling finances and choosing a career. More than 260,000 juniors and seniors in high schools throughout Indiana received the publication in the fall.

GRAD focuses on graduate study opportunities, employment prospects and quality of life in Indiana. The magazine was distributed to 80,000 juniors and seniors at Indiana colleges and universities last fall.