Scholarships

Below is a listing of some good general scholarship programs. This list is by no means comprehensive, so I've listed some scholarship search engines at the bottom of the page.

Scholarship programs

• Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund
  
• Coca Cola Scholars
• Gates Millennium Scholars
• Jackie Robinson Foundation
  
• Toyota Community Scholars
• US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
  

Scholarship search engines

• FastWeb
• College Board's Scholarship Search
• Next Student (also has a good listing of Pacific islander scholarships)
  

The University of Guam also has a good listing of scholarships for local students.

Graduate debt-free!

As promised, below is information on schools with no-loan financial aid policies.
(information from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_aid#Need-based)

No loan financial aid
In 2001, Princeton University became the first university in the United States to eliminate all loans from its financial aid packages. Since then, many other schools have followed in eliminating some or all loans from their financial aid programs. Many of these programs are aimed at students whose parents earn less than a certain income — the figures vary by college or university. These new initiatives were designed to attract more students and applicants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, reduce student debt loads, and provide the offering institutions with an advantage over their rivals in attracting commitments from accepted students. As of March 25, 2008, the list of colleges and universities offering such no-loan financial aid packages includes the following:

School	No-loan financial aid for families meeting these eligibility requirements:
Amherst College	No max of income
Arizona State University	Arizona residents with family income of up to $25,000
Bowdoin College	No max of income
Bridgewater State College	Offers unsubsidized or subsidized loans to any student who files the FAFSA.
Brown University	Family income below $100,000
Caltech	Annual income below $60,000
Claremont McKenna College	No max of income
Colby College	No max of income; all students
Columbia University	All students eligible for financial aid regardless of family income
Cornell University	Annual income below $75,000
Dartmouth College	Annual income below $75,000
Davidson College	No max of income
Duke University	Annual income below $40,000
Emory University	Annual income below $50,000
Haverford College	First-year students with financial need.
Harvard University	Annual income below $60,000
Lafayette University	Annual income below $50,000
Lehigh University	Annual income below $50,000
MIT	Annual income below $75,000
University of Maryland, College Park	Maryland resident with 0 EFC.
Michigan State University	Michigan resident with family incomes at or below the federal poverty line.
Northwestern University	Family income lower than approx. $55,000.
North Carolina State University	Income less than 150% of the poverty line. Requires the family to have "limited assets," regardless of state residency.
University of Chicago	Students who demonstrate financial need and whose annual family income totals $75,000 or less.
UNC Chapel Hill	200% of federal poverty line ($24,000 to $37,000)
University of Pennsylvania	Annual income below $100,000
Pomona College	No max of income
Princeton University	No max of income
Rice University	Annual income below $80,000
Stanford University	Annual income below $45,000
Swarthmore College	Anyone with financial need
Tufts University	Annual income below $40,000
Vanderbilt University	No cap.
Vassar College	Annual income below $60,000.
University of Virginia	200% of federal poverty line ($24,000 to $37,000)
Washington and Lee University	No max of income
Washington University in St. Louis	Annual Income below $60,000
Wellesley College	$60,000
Wesleyan University	$40,000
College of William and Mary	$40,000 (VA residents only)
Williams College	No max of income
Yale University	No max of income

Practice for the SAT + Feed the Hungry!

Log onto http://www.freerice.com to practice your vocabulary and sharpen your math skills. For each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice will be donated through the UN World Food Program to feed the needy. A higher score and a better conscience -- sounds like a win-win situation!

First Session A Success!

The first session of PREP YOURSELF, held March 25 at the UOG Cafeteria, was a huge success! Almost 70 students representing nearly all of Guam’s high schools made the commitment to raise their SAT scores by registering for the six-week workshop, which will take place Wednesdays until April 29.

The first session focused on the format of the SAT and general test-taking strategies. The featured guest speaker was St. John’s School college guidance counselor Bob Kelley, who advised students on registering for the SAT and applying for SAT fee waivers. AmeriCorps Program Director and UOG counselor Claudia Taitano also made a presentation on the University of Guam as the “Natural Choice” for an undergraduate college education.

We also announced a new project: SAT Math Practice Sessions with Wai-Chi Lau, an AmeriCorps partner with years of SAT Math tutoring experience under his belt. On Tuesday evenings from March 31 to April 14, Mr. Lau will be guiding students through Math practice tests and addressing specific problem areas. Please contact prepyourselfguam@gmail.com for more information these sessions.

Register for PREP YOURSELF

An electronic version of the PREP YOURSELF registration form is available here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgxdxkwv_0dz5m7wdw

Please complete and submit it by March 20 to prepyourselfguam@gmail.com.

Look forward to seeing you there!

UOG AmeriCorps Success Center Announces the Launch of PREP YOURSELF!

The University of Guam AmeriCorps Success Center proudly announces the launch of PREP YOURSELF, a free SAT tutoring and college counseling workshop for high school juniors and seniors on Guam.

The six-week workshop aims to provide local students with test-taking strategies and tips for the Math, Writing and Critical Reading sections of the SAT, the standardized test used by most colleges and universities to determine admission. The workshop will also feature guest lectures on various aspects of the college admissions process.

PREP YOURSELF will take place on Wednesday evenings, from March 25 to April 29, at the University of Guam cafeteria. The timing of the workshop is designed to prepare students for the May 2 testing date, but all high school juniors and seniors are invited to participate. While the workshop will be provided free of charge, participants are asked to make a $10 donation for program supplies. Eligible students can request a registration form by e-mailing prepyourselfguam@gmail.com.

PREP YOURSELF was conceived and will be led by AmeriCorps team member Jessica Marati, a 2008 graduate of Princeton University, along with other members of the UOG Success Center. For more information on PREP YOURSELF, or to volunteer your services or time, please contact Jessica by e-mail at jessica.marati@gmail.com, or contact Claudia Taitano by telephone at 735-2234 or by e-mail at yestaitano@gmail.com.

The AmeriCorps Program is made possible through a generous grant received from the Corporation on National & Community Service through the Guam Department of Labor and ServeGuam! Commission, Grant Number 05AFHGU0010010.