Partnerships Provide Students With Scholarships For Specific Studies

Throughout the country this year, colleges and universities received millions of dollars in grants. The grant money, provided by public and private agencies, in many instances is being converted to scholarships that don’t have to be repaid and can help students reduce the debt they might otherwise incur in working toward a college or university degree. In some instances, colleges and universities this year have also obtained grants and formed partnerships to reduce the amounts students have to pay as part of loans obtained for their studies. Partnerships like these, coupled with school grants options, may make it possible for you to drastically reduce the cost of earning your degree.

Students in Washington, DC, are to benefit from a $3.7 million US Department of Education grant to one institution. The grant money, awarded to that university, is to provide for scholarships. Among the scholarship recipients: students undergoing training to become “high poverty” school teachers, the university grant announcement suggested.

A $2.4 million Goizueta Foundation gift is helping a Georgia university expand scholarships. The Athens, Ga.-based institution plans to target a fast growing population within the state that speaks Spanish fluently, a July college announcement noted. To qualify, applicants would also have to have financial needs. The grant is a seven-year grant that would provide for transfer, leadership and opportunity scholarships, according to the announcement.

The difference between these scholarships has to do with who qualifies. For example, freshmen students with financial needs might consider the opportunity scholarships that they can renew. Students who have obtained associate degrees and might not otherwise be able to pursue bachelor’s degrees might look toward that Georgia institution’s transfer scholarships. In order to qualify for leadership scholarships at that college, students would have to demonstrate academic achievement and more, the announcement from the institution suggested.

In Indiana, students who obtain loans from the Questa Foundation could have as much as 75 percent of those loans forgiven by at least one college. The Questa Foundation provides student loans of up to $20,000 for four years and forgives 25 percent of loan balances immediately after graduation in instances where students graduate with a minimum 2.75 grade point average. Then, about five years after Questa scholars graduate, the foundation forgives another 25 percent of the loan balance in instances where that student lives and works in certain parts of Indiana. Now, this college is pitching in – by partnering with the Questa Foundation and paying another 25 percent of a Questa scholar’s student loan balance after that student graduates.

It’s not uncommon for colleges and universities to provide students with scholarships for specific studies. In many instances, these scholarships also are paid for with help from grants. A university in New Orleans is now reducing student loan debt by as much as 85 percent, thanks to a federal grant intended to boost the number of professionals in a certain area. Looking up government grants will show you many programs for savings.

The loan forgiveness program is offered through that institution’s school of nursing. It’s provided with help from a $423,000 federal Nurse Faculty Loan Repayment Program grant, and it’s intended to help alleviate a shortage of nurse educators. The student loan forgiveness program accomplishes this by paying as much as 85 percent of a student’s graduate degree loans in exchange for that student working as a nurse educator full-time for four years. The federal government also provided this university’s nursing school $124,000 that’s to be applied to scholarships for graduate students training to become primary care providers, according to an announcement from that institution.

Many students and families might not think about where scholarship or loan repayment money comes from. Many might not care where they get their financial aid. In instances where scholarships are intended to help fill future career demands through traditional or online degrees, however, students and families might find more scholarship money is more readily available. Take the time to look up scholarship grant for additional ways to reduce your tuition.