Jessica Harmon

Buick Scholarship Expands Eligibility

Buick has their Buick Achievers Scholarship which is helping kids all over America afford tuition and books. But previously the scholarship has only been open to students who are current high school students. Now Buick and the General Motors Foundation have announced that they will expand the Buick Achievers Scholarship Program for the 2012 year. The scholarship program will now include college undergraduate students for the 2012-2013 year.

Buick has their Buick Achievers Scholarship which is helping kids all over America afford tuition and books. But previously the scholarship has only been open to students who are current high school students. Now Buick and the General Motors Foundation have announced that they will expand the Buick Achievers Scholarship Program for the 2012 year. The scholarship program will now include college undergraduate students for the 2012-2013 year.

“In its second year, lessons learned were incorporated to further the Buick Achievers’ mission to inspire, celebrate and enable human achievement,” said Mary Barra, senior vice president of Global Product Development. “These new steps demonstrate the commitment to a future generation inspired by the college experience and motivated to make a difference in their world.”

The program is a four and a half million a year program and the change to include the undergraduates was announced at the North American Auto Show. This was the same show where Buick debuted their new Encore Luxury Crossover. One of the hopes of the program directors by the expansion of the program is to be able to now include undergraduate students who have had more time to decide if they want to pursue majors in the qualifying programs of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, design, marketing, and business administration.

“Almost one half of college students drop out before completing their education,” said Scholarship America Senior Vice President Donald Lassere. “Many cite the lack of financial resources as the principle reason for dropping out. By including current undergraduate students, the Buick Achievers program will enable many deserving students to complete their education.”

The scholarship program also takes the student’s level of community service commitment into consideration. This will give another advantage to undergraduate students, who will have been presented with more community service opportunities through school. The changes in the scholarship program will also expand the level of importance that is placed on the community service activities.

The program was only launched last year in 2011, and already it has changed the lives of many college students across America. Every year one thousand one hundred students will be awarded scholarships by the program. The program is for students who have demonstrated classroom achievement and achievement in their community. The program also emphasizes that the funds are for students who would otherwise be unable to attend college.

The program gives two different types of awards for the students. One hundred students will receive up to twenty five thousand dollars a year for their scholarships, which are renewable for up to four years for regular math and science programs and the program is also renewable to these students for an additional year if the student is enrolled in a five year engineering program. The other one thousand students involved in the program will receive a one time award of two thousand dollars each. The GM foundation is the only foundation funding this Buick scholarship program and the program is actually one of the largest programs in America awarded over multiple years.

“Special consideration is given to students who are military personnel, veterans or their dependents, as well as women and other minority groups,” said GM Foundation Chairman Bob Ferguson.  “This ensures that we help build a strong and diverse manufacturing work force that will ultimately strengthen our nation’s global competitiveness.”

When the program began in 2011 Buick gave scholarships to students in all fifty states. Half of the scholarships were awarded to students who had no other hope of attending school, and who were the first to attend college in their families.

Information and applications for the scholarship are available at www.buickachievers.com.  The scholarship deadline for 2012 is February twenty ninth.

Article Tags: Buick Scholarship, Buick Achievers

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