Scholarship Grant Available For Non-Traditional Students
WARSAW — The Ivy Tech Foundation recently received a grant from the McDonald Memorial Scholarship Fund held at the Kosciusko County Community Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to provide rapid response to meet the financial needs of non-traditional students who, for whatever reasons, have missed financial aid application deadlines or are otherwise ineligible for funding needed to continue their education.
“After years of working with non-traditional students, we knew that the impetus for their starting or returning to college was often something unforeseen, something they couldn’t plan for,” said Suzie Light, Community Foundation executive director. “Job loss, divorce, these are just some of the things that can cause an adult to seek out higher education.”
The McDonald Memorial Scholarship Fund grant enables adult Ivy Tech students to get started when needed, not necessarily according to traditional financial aid or scholarship deadlines.
“The Community Foundation really hit the nail on the head when they approached us about this rapid response funding,” said Leigh Ann Jacobson, Executive Director of Resource Development for the Ivy Tech Foundation. “The grant was generous and flexible enough to allow Ivy Tech Warsaw to help students who would otherwise miss out on financial aid.” Jacobson hopes other campuses will be able to develop similar flexible funding.
Recently, the Ivy Tech Foundation named the Kosciusko County Community Foundation its North Central Region Benefactor of the Year. The Community Foundation has long been a supporter of Ivy Tech, including awarding a grant to help Ivy Tech secure its permanent campus in Warsaw. But, it was the innovation of the grant from the McDonald Memorial Scholarship Fund that motivated this recent recognition.
The McDonald Memorial Scholarship was established by Dr. Angus C. McDonald who came to Warsaw in 1892. The first modern hospital in Warsaw was named for him. McDonald was one of the founders and the first president of Bakers’ Boys Club, now Baker Youth Club. More than 120 years after McDonald first arrived in this community, his legacy lives on.
Click here to access the original article and for two scholarship testimonials.