Lail Stockfish / Roundup
Twenty new scholarships have been added to the usual six presented by the Associated Students Organization (ASO) this spring, but so far the submissions have been lagging.
As of Friday there have been zero applications submitted for the usual ASO scholarships, and few for the 20 new scholarships created just this year.
ASO President, Shani Simms is responsible for the creation of the new scholarships to be awarded for use in the fall to students who are generally ineligible to apply.
“Most scholarships are for those graduating and transferring students, we need to have some for Pierce students, and we have so much money in savings, something like $750,000,” said Simms.
“I wanted these scholarships to be available to every single student, including those in ASO,” she said. “They give all year round, it’s time for us to give back to them.”
There are 14 of them with two recipients for six of them, each with a $500 award to be used for school purposes.
According to Simms this is the average cost of books for Pierce students.
The deadline is May 7 for all ASO Scholarship applications, but it might need to be extended.
According Daniel Axelrod, chair of the ASO scholarship committee, all his promoting and attempts to bring forth applicants has, so far, been unsuccessful.
“I try and tell people there’s not that many people that apply for these things…that their chances are high, and it’s only a short paragraph its nothing to stress out about and it will only take 30 minutes, ” said Axelrod. “But I can only give [the applications] out, I can’t force kids to do them.”
While Simms has received some submissions, she seems to share the same sentiment.
“It’s kind of upsetting actually, there’s free money out there. It was like pulling teeth trying to get students to apply,” said Simms.
According to Financial Aid Technician David Ritterband, students seem to be more interested with applying for financial aid then for scholarships.
“I think maybe 1 or 2 students have applied through the financial aid website,” said Simms.
According to Axelrod, there were only about 10 applicants for the six scholarships available last year.
Each application has a required essay and an anecdote depicting the eligibility requirements. Most include community service as well as campus involvement, and a minimum GPA.
However, according to Axelrod, the Scholarship Committee will be focusing more on the essays when it comes down to deciding the winner and not so much on the GPA.
“It’s more about who deserves it through their story, I’m not cracking down on people’s grammar, but we want to see who’s passionate,” said Axelrod.
Simms hopes to present the recipients of the new scholarships at the ASO banquet on May 21 along with the rest of them.
For more detail or to apply, visit the ASO website http://info.piercecollege.edu/students/Aso/index.asp, or go to the Financial Aid Office in the Student Services building.
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