VSAC awards scholarships to area students
The Chester Telegraph | May 25, 2020 | Comments 5
In addition to the scholarships for high school seniors, VSAC has also awarded more than $4.6 million in scholarships to college students returning to school this fall.
VSAC administers 150 scholarships on behalf of state organizations, the federal government, civic groups, and individuals. Scholarships range from $500 to $12,500 and many are renewable for up to four years.
Scholarships—like grants—are financial aid that does not need to be paid back; however, scholarships, unlike grants, are competitive, meaning that eligible applicants vie for a limited number of awards. Scholarships are typically based on factors unique to each scholarship, including residency, degree program or major, academic achievement, extracurricular activities and in some cases, financial need.
Seniors at Windsor County schools will receive a total $288,500.
At Green Mountain Union High School, 22 seniors will receive $45,400 in scholarships, including James Anderson; Lucy Applegate; Alexander Beshay; Olivia Bernier; Kameron Cummings; Gary Gaudet; Ozzie Jewett; Lydia Jones; Laurel King; Anne Lamson; Tierra Maclean; Nina Neptune; Chase Rawson; Sagen-Rayne Savage; Raevyn Stocker; Magali Stowell Aleman; Zoe Svec; Jacob Thomas; Rileigh Tomas; Abigail Williams; Madison Wilson and Angelae Wunderle.
At Black River High School, five seniors will receive $5,000 in scholarships: Ryan Boyle; Robert Hamel; Alexander Kirdzik; Christina Letourneau and Esha Patel.
At Springfield High School, 34 seniors will received $61,000 in scholarships: Julianna Albero-Levings; Victoria Amsden; Abigail Beaulieu; Alexus Beebe; Brandon Bennett; Emily Benson; William Bishop; Ashley Chamberlin; Brady Clark; Maria Colaluca; Lucia Coutermarsh; Ariel Day; Alyssa Ferris; Allison Gibbons; Sarah Gurney; Grace Guy; Emma Howard; Xandrea Luurtsema; Dylan Merrow; Madison O’Brien; Lucas Pugh; Koleman Schippert; Adam Stokarski; Deserae Swanner; Madison Tennis; Anthony Thibodeau; Owen Thibodeau; Jenna Veysey; Damian Warner; Kaylee Warren; Maizy White; Mycah White; Kayden Wolf and Noah Zierfus.
In Windham County, five Bellows Falls Union High School seniors will receive $13,200 in scholarships: Faith Bemis; Stephanie Holland; Justin Pinette; Hunter Smith and Grace Thompson.
Also, Kaylah Jacobs and Athena Fowler-Shaw will receive $5,000 in scholarships.
Filed Under: College News • Education News
Again, even if a student keeps up his GPA, does the work study plan or whatever the conditions, it still may need to be repaid. You cannot put all in one basket because each is individual. We only wanted to share with students and parents, even tho it helps you get there, does not mean it’s free money and never has to be repaid. Many many college grads can testify they are now overwhelmed paying this back on top of every day living expenses, it’s nothing new, The govt will not hesitate to dip into your employment earnings after graduation, or even take your complete tax return, if you happen fall behind.
Students deciding on a college to attend are offered a financial aid package. The package may consist of scholarships, grants, loans, work study etc.
A grant need not be repaid. A scholarship may have conditions – such as keeping a certain level of GPA or a certain course of study – but if the conditions are met, a scholarship need not be repaid. The financial aid package may also include government subsidized or unsubsidized loans and these are repayable and typically a certain number of months after the student either graduates or ceases to be a full-time student. If something in your son’s package appeared to be a grant or scholarship but was then repayable, it would be advisable to take it up with the college that made the financial aid offer. VSAC is not a government agency but a non-profit that administers grants and scholarships for a number of individuals and foundations and also offers loans. And as a dad who’s been through it, it’s all in the paperwork and the VSAC folks have always been responsive to emails and phone calls for clarification and advice.
As my husband stated, our son also received a financial scholorship yet was required to repay starting six months after college graduation. Not all is free money. We will have to agree to disagree on this one…not always the case.
VSAC is quite explicit.
The fourth paragraph starts by saying: “Scholarships—like grants—are financial aid that does not need to be paid back.”
Is this money awarded free money or money the govt will require to be paid back upon college graduation. our son won $72,000 but we found out it was to enter school but expected to be paid back six months after college. Many students get in overwhelming debt with these type of scholarships unless free money.