Weekly Bulletin

Billions of Dollars in Free Money for College Available to Next Fall’s Freshman Class
The Sallie Mae Fund Offers Helpful Tips and $2.5 Million
in Awards During Scholarship Application Season

The Sallie Mae Fund will once again provide $2.5 million in college scholarships to roughly 1,000 deserving students pursuing higher education this fall. Applications, eligibility and deadline information are now available on www.salliemaefund.org.

The Institute for Higher Education Policy estimates that there are billions of dollars in college scholarships available each year. Awards can range from a few hundred dollars to a full ride for all four years, and best of all, they do not need to be repaid.

Kathleen deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae Fund explains that these awards are not limited to the class valedictorian or star athletes: “Scholarships are awarded based on a number of factors – from your interests to where your parents work to exceptional writing skills displayed in an essay contest. Searching for scholarships may take a little time and energy, but remember – it’s free money. Even if you spend five hours applying for scholarships and receive only one $500 scholarship, that’s still the same as earning $100 an hour. Money is available, but you have to take the first step and apply.”

The Fund offers students tips for tapping into this free money for college:

· Apply for as many awards as you qualify for. Even small awards can be helpful in covering the cost of books.

· Pay close attention to deadlines. Missing a deadline is a sure way to become disqualified.

· Look for scholarships offered by a variety of sources, including companies, unions, foundations, community organizations, churches and more.

· Tell family, friends, teachers and others in your community that you are looking for scholarships. They may know something you do not.

· Understand the conditions of an award – such as maintaining a specific GPA or participating on an athletic team.

· Watch for scholarship scams. You should never have to pay for scholarship advice or information.

· If you get a scholarship, be sure to write a thank you note to the organization. You may want to reapply for the scholarship in the future so it is important to make a good impression.

“It may seem out of your reach, but once you take that first step and apply, you quickly see how worthwhile it all is,” said 2006 Sallie Mae Fund scholarship winner and Spelman College junior Leanna Pearson.

By 2015, there will be an additional 5 million college-age individuals in the United States. Approximately 80 percent of this growth is projected to come from minority populations with greater financial need. To help meet these needs, The Sallie Mae Fund provides scholarships through a number of its own programs that address a common barrier to higher education access: financial need. Scholarships with upcoming deadlines this spring include:

· “First in My Family” Scholarship Program: This program, developed in partnership with the Hispanic College Fund, offers scholarships to Hispanic-American students who are the first in their family to attend college, and have financial need.

· “Unmet Need” Scholarship Program: Open to families with a combined income of less than $30,000, Unmet Need scholarships provide a “last-dollar” resource when no other funds are available.

· “American Dream” Scholarship Program: The American Dream program was developed in partnership with the United Negro College Fund, and offers scholarships ranging from $500 to $5,000 to African-American students with demonstrated financial need.

· The Sallie Mae 911 Education Fund: Created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, this fund provides scholarship dollars to children of those who were killed or permanently disabled in the attacks. This fund also provides grants, which enable spouses of those who were killed or deemed permanently disabled in the attacks to pay off their Sallie Mae education loans.

· The Imagine America Promise Scholarship Program: This program extends a renewal scholarship to existing career college students who received the Imagine America scholarship, to continue pursuit of their postsecondary career education.

“Even though they don’t know you, they believe in you,” said Oklahoma scholarship winner Thelma Ramirez about The Sallie Mae Fund. “I used to clean chalkboards for books in hopes of one day going to college. Now I am a pre-law major at a prestigious Ivy League college.”

Additionally, The Sallie Mae Fund, in partnership with the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning and Development’s Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, the Walt Disney Company and Southern California Edison, recently introduced a valuable free resource for students—the Latino College Dollars Scholarship Directory. This up-to-date scholarship guide features hundreds of scholarships available to California Latino students, and is available without registration at www.latinocollegedollars.org.

In 2006, The Fund awarded $2.6 million in scholarships to more than 1,000 deserving students enrolled in colleges across the country. More than 14,000 completed applications were submitted by college-bound students from across the country, a significant jump from the previous year and a record for The Sallie Mae Fund’s scholarship programs. For a complete listing of 2006 scholarship recipients and the schools they attend, or for 2007-2008 scholarship information, visit www.salliemaefund.org.

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The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission—to increase access to a postsecondary education for America’s students—by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, preparing families for their investment, and bridging the gap when no one else can. For more information, visit www.salliemaefund.org.

The White House Internship Program

The White House Internship Program offers an excellent opportunity to serve our
President and explore public service. We are seeking exceptional candidates to
apply for this highly competitive program. In addition to typical office duties,
interns attend weekly lectures, tours, and complete an intern service project.

Interns may serve a term in the Fall, Spring or Summer. Every candidate must be a
United States citizen, enrolled in a college or university, and at least 18 years of age.

An application and additional information about the program can be found at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/wh-intern.html.

Strong applications exhibit:

• sound academic credentials
• a history of community involvement and leadership
• solid verbal/written communication skills
• a demonstrated interest in public service
Applications should be submitted to Karen Race, Deputy Director and Intern
Coordinator, White House Personnel, at intern_application@whitehouse.gov on or
before the following deadlines:

• March 6, 2007 for SUMMER 2007 --(May 22 to August 24, 2007)
• June 26, 2007 for FALL 2007 --(September 4 to December 14, 2007)
If you have questions you may contact Karen Race at (202) 456-5979 or

intern_application@whitehouse.gov

Congressman Bennie Thompson, Alcorn State University and Monsanto Announce Partnership to Benefit Black Farmers and 1890s University Students

On February 22, 2007, Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, Alcorn State University and Monsanto Company announced a partnership that will include other 1890 institutions to provide more opportunities for students interested in pursuing professions in agriculture. The partnership will also provide greater access for black farmers to the latest technologies and best on-farm practices in cotton and vegetables.

Monsanto will initially work with Alcorn State University to establish cotton and vegetable demonstrations with local black farmers in order to narrow the gap in technology adoption among black farmers. The demonstration plots will also provide a component for university student research, bolstering opportunities for students interested in agriculture careers. The program will strive to establish similar partnerships with other 1890 universities including Tuskegee (AL) University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA.

“Alcorn State University has been selected as the lead institution for this project,” said Carl Casale, Monsanto Executive Vice President. “We are looking to ASU leadership to enlist broad support for this program so that black farmers and students can realize enhanced benefits and opportunities across several agricultural crops.”

In the fall of 2006, Casale and Congressman Thompson discussed possible improvements for enhancing agricultural opportunities for black farmers and students in the Mississippi Delta region. Monsanto, a global agricultural company, is a leading technology provider to cotton producers and cotton is a major crop in southern agriculture. Additionally, many of the 1890s institutions are involved in significant vegetable research, and Monsanto invests considerable resources annually in vegetables through its Seminis subsidiary. As a result of these conversations between Casale and Thompson, an idea emerged on ways to enhance technology adoption and career opportunities.

“This program will bring together the best and the brightest minds and work to keep that talent in the state of Mississippi,” said Congressman Thompson. “We’ve made a commitment to identify and help remove barriers to technology adoption and career opportunities for blacks in agriculture, but this project is just the first chapter in that endeavor. We’ll be depending on other key leaders to come to the table and discuss ways to break down these barriers.”

“The career component of this program will serve as an important vehicle to support building the broadest, deepest and most diverse talent pipeline possible for agriculture,” said Steve Mizell, Monsanto Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. “We recently established a relationship with the Council of 1890 Presidents and Chancellors through which we’ve already identified a number of extremely talented candidates for Monsanto internships this summer. This new program will augment that process to introduce students to careers at Monsanto and in the agriculture industry.”

“This initiative by Monsanto and Congressman Thompson demonstrates a vested interest in the academics and the future of Mississippi,” said Dr. Dalton McAfee, Interim Dean School of Agriculture, Research, Extension and Applied Sciences, Alcorn State University. “This is one step in a process that will need further development, but it communicates Monsanto’s commitment and shows they take this issue seriously. I hope others in the industry will step up to the plate instead of just giving lip service.”

February
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
				1 Prince Hall	2 Crispus Attuck	3 Fredrick Douglass
4 Martin Luther King Jr.	5 Lewis Howard Latimer	6 * Hiram Revels	7 Booker T. Washington	8 W.E.B. DuBois	9 Duke Ellington	10 Langston Hughes
11 Thurgood Marshall	12 *Medgar Evers	13 Daniel Hale Williams	14 Harriet Tubman	15 Sojouner Truth	16 Rosa Parks	17 Mary Church Terrell
18 Madam C. J. Walker	19 Fannie Lou Haymer	20 Mary McLeod Bethune	21 Billie Holiday	22 Mae Jemison	23 Maggie Lena Walker	24 Coretta Scott King
25 Shirley Chilsom	26 Zora Neal Hurston	27 Maya Angelou	28 *Alex Haley

*Famous Alcornites

How do you know where you are going if you don’t know where you have been?