The deadline for Foundation scholarships is coming up on Friday, March 4. The applications can be picked up in the IVCC Foundation Office or can be found online.

The applications are available to all students, including incoming freshman, current students, and adults just starting school.
Scholarship awards range from $500 to $3,500, depending on the scholarship. Overall, IVCC awarded scholarships totaling $300,000 last year.

Students applying for the scholarships should be full-time. However, some scholarships are specifically for part-time students.
The application has one page of demographic information and an essay requirement that applies to numerous scholarships.
Donna Swiskoski, administrative assistant in the Foundation office, gave several pieces of advice for students who want to apply for a scholarship.

“You want to earn it and you want to work for it,” Swiskoski said. “A donor wants to see that a student is serious about their education.”

Swiskoski said students must look in depth at the scholarships they are eligible for. Students will not want to miss one that they could have applied for, but they will also not want to assume they can apply for any scholarship. Following directions and indicating which scholarships are being applied for is extremely important, according to Swiskoski.

Another important piece of the application is the essay, Swiskoski said. Students must put time into their essay because they are competing.

The essay requirements include educational and professional goals, school and community service, and financial need and special circumstances. Students should introduce themselves as well as introducing their area of study. If a student does not yet have an area of study, they should go into detail about their future plans, Swiskoski said. For example, a student should provide their goals and what they plan on doing after IVCC.

Despite efforts to raise awareness about scholarship offerings, some students do not know they exist or how to get an application.

Freshman Lauren Hicks said, “I had no idea these scholarships existed until now. Now that I know, I am going to look into them some more and definitely apply!”