Scholarship America In The News

Scholarship America Founder, 92, Honored in Hometown Retirement Ceremony

Scholarship America founder Dr. Irving Fradkin has been a tireless volunteer for our organization for 55 years. On his 92nd birthday, he decided it was time to retire; along with Scholarship America president Lauren Segal, U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy and a host of others, the Fall River Herald was there for the ceremony:

"Local optometrist Irving Fradkin believed so strongly in making sure young people had access to a college education that he once made a collect call — which actually connected — to then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower to engage him on the subject.

" That was in the 1950s, and Fradkin’s belief was not universally held. Back then, there were no Pell Grants, no community colleges and few other forms student aid to help young people pay for college.

" Higher education was mainly the province of gifted student-athletes or children born into affluent families.

" But Fradkin refused to believe that was how it should be. He believed in America and democracy — but also believed that true democracy would not last if young people could not all be educated.

" So, in 1958, a year after losing a bid for the Fall River School Committee, Fradkin — who had an optometry practice on North Main Street at the time — decided to act upon his belief.

" He founded a program called Dollars for Scholars, challenging those in his community to give at least one dollar toward sending Fall River youth to college.
The program has gone nationwide since — over the last 55 years, the program raised more than $3 billion and has helped send 1.9 million youth to college. It’s now called Scholarship America and has chapters in about 1,100 communities nationwide.

Read the rest of the story on the Herald's website!

"Dirty Jobs" Host Mike Rowe Awards Inaugural mikeroweWORKS Scholarships Live on "Katie"

The mikeroweWORKS Foundation created its scholarship program in partnership with Scholarship America; the program is designed to award $2,500 scholarships to students in skilled trade programs at vocational, technical or trade schools. Mike appeared on Katie with Katie Couric to discuss the need for skilled-trade education—and to award the foundation's initial scholarships to powersport-technology students Joy Davidson and Roger Gresens. Watch the segment above or at katiecouric.com!

CEO Lauren Segal Offers Scholarship Advice on KSTP-TV

Scholarship America CEO Lauren Segal talked to KSTP-TV about getting ready for scholarship season -- watch the video above or check out the KSTP.com story for expert advice on finding, preparing and learning about scholarship opportunities! Want more great advice? You can also take a look at the extended version of the interview.

Real Simple Declares Scholarship America a Top 10 Charity For Holiday Giving

Scholarship America is one of ten charities included in the 2012 Real Simple magazine holiday giving guide. We were selected, as the magazine says, for "combin[ing] Scrooge’s fiscal discipline with Saint Nick’s generosity."

You can check out the whole list on the Real Simple website.

When A Little Gas Money Goes A Long Way: Emergency Grants Help Students Stay In School

Scholarship America's Dreamkeepers program, which provides emergency grants to students at 47 community and technical colleges across the country, is featured in a new Community College Times article on how students deal with crises. Pictured at left is Jacqueline Mathis, a student at Mountain Empire Community College and a Dreamkeepers recipient.

"[Jacqueline] found herself in an economic bind after her family moved across the county and the job her husband was offered fell through.

"'We had nothing,' she recalls, noting that she considered dropping out of the nursing program at Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) in Virginia.

"But then MECC came through with a $500 emergency [Dreamkeepers] grant to help her pay for gas money for her 45-minute drive to class.

"'If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to go to school,' she says."

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PG&E Bright Futures Scholarship Surprises Students

The winners of PG&E's Bright Minds Scholarships, managed by Scholarship America, are learning of their scholarships during the final week of May -- and PG&E is making sure it's a surprise for each of them.

The video above is from Good Day Sacramento, and features student Marisa Monier receiving her surprise $30,000 scholarship award. Like many of the Bright Minds recipients, Marisa is the first in her family to attend college.

You can read more about Marisa and the first four recipients here. The second set of recipients, including a formerly-homeless single mom and an Afghanistan veteran, are profiled here. The winners were chosen from over 8,000 applicants, and we congratulate them all!

Katie Couric's "Best Advice" Paperback Benefits Scholarship America -- and Features Our Founder

As of April 17, award-winning journalist Katie Couric’s THE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives is now available in trade paperback from Random House.

Couric is donating her profits from the sale of the book to Scholarship America -- and this new paperback edition also features a foreword from Dollars for Scholars founder Dr. Irving Fradkin! In addition, this edition features new contributions from Regis Philbin, Renee Fleming, and more, along with inspiring stories from Mario Batali, Michael Bloomberg, Drew Brees, Sheryl Crow, Michael J. Fox, Thomas Friedman, Ina Garten, Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Helen Mirren, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Alex Rodriguez, and Meryl Streep. 

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