USA Funds Access to Ed Scholarships
By Sandra Holt and Mae St. Julien, USA Funds Services

Applications will be available Jan. 2, 2006, for the USA Funds? Access to Education Scholarships? for the 2006-2007 academic year. Students must apply online at the USA Funds Web site, www.usafunds.org. The application deadline is March 1, 2006.

The program will assist eligible students in achieving their higher-education goals by awarding a total of $3 million in renewable scholarships to qualified students demonstrating financial need, according to the following criteria:

USA Funds Access to Education Scholarships are open to high-school seniors, currently enrolled college students or incoming college students who have an annual adjusted gross family income of $35,000 or less. Up to 50 percent of the scholarship awards will be targeted to applicants who are members of an ethnic-minority group or have a documented physical disability.

The program will award scholarships worth $1,500 for full-time undergraduate, graduate and professional students, and half-time undergraduate students. The scholarships may be renewed annually, if the student maintains a 2.5 grade-point average on a four-point scale, until the continuously enrolled student receives a final degree or certificate, or until the total award to the student reaches $6,000.