OFIC awards more than 950 scholarships worth $1.6M total

Staff report

columbus

The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges, through its Ohio Scholars Program, awarded 958 scholarships statewide to students enrolled in its 34 member colleges for the 2010-11 academic year.

The total value of the scholarships is nearly $1.6 million.

In its 12th year, the Ohio Scholars Program is funded by 165 corporations and foundations whose contributions provide scholarships to academically qualified students who might otherwise find the cost of higher education prohibitive.

“Scholarships are the single most important factor in assisting low-moderate income students to advance to college and to keep studying to complete their undergraduate degrees. Especially today, and especially here in Ohio, the importance of scholarships, which help moderate student loan debt, cannot be overstated,” said Gordon R. Brollier, OFIC president. “We are grateful to our corporations, foundations and individuals who have stepped forward to fund scholarships for deserving students and to provide outstanding young people with the opportunity to achieve their academic dreams.”

Forty-five students from the Mahoning Valley area are attending college this year with financial assistance received through OFIC.

Katrina Weaver of Youngstown is a senior at the College of Wooster studying communication sciences and disorders with a minor in Spanish so that she can eventually earn a master’s degree in bilingual speech-language pathology.

She is the recipient of a scholarship from The First Place Bank Community Foundation and wrote to her donor, “Thank you so much for investing in my future. Such important education would not be possible without your generosity. I am sincerely grateful.”

All scholarship recipients are selected based on recommendations from their colleges and meet criteria established by the donors. These criteria may include area of study, academic standing, geographic region or ethnicity.

OFIC is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 34 independent Ohio colleges and universities and operates one of the largest, most comprehensive and diverse scholarship management services in the state.

OFIC member colleges collectively enroll nearly 100,000 students and award one-third of all bachelor’s degrees in the state. For 61 years, OFIC has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education and has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship commitments through funds raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations.