Students and new scholarships from CSU

By Megan Farrell
The Collegian

New scholarships offered to the CSU system in the 2007-2008 school year are worth more than $350,000, and three of the new scholarships are available to Fresno State students.

The Glenn and Dorothy Dumke Fellowship, William Randolph Hearst Award and the Dale M. Schoettler Scholarship for Visually Impaired Students are three new avenues for Fresno State students to travel in the race for scholarships.

Greg Varela, an administrative analyst for the University Scholarships and Student Affairs Development office, said according to the requirements of these three scholarships, Fresno State students are qualified.

In the 2005-2006 academic year, Fresno State awarded $2.9 million. However, less than 17 percent of Fresno State students apply for scholarships.

Varela said the only way to apply for scholarships is online using the generic application. It is set up as a database and scholarship donors puts in their criteria and the database does all of the work.

“We try to keep it simple,” Varela said. “Students don’t realize that online is a one-stop for all opportunities.”

The database is great for students and donors. “It takes the human element out,” Varela said. He said instead of people picking and choosing, the computer does all of the work, and the donor can look at all of the applications that apply to that scholarship.

The database can distinguish between one student with a 3.0 GPA and another.

Last year, Varela said there was a 78.63 percent utilization of available scholarship funds. Part of the reason is because of a lack of qualified applicants who meet the minimum requirements for a specific scholarship, and also because some students become ineligible to receive spring awards.

The Hearst Award provides many opportunities for students to receive funds. There is one $6,000 award and there will be 22 scholarships awarded in the amount of $3,000. All of the applications that qualify for this scholarship will be given to President Welty and he will select one nominee and forward the information to the CSU foundation. Because there are 23 awards, each nominee from each school will receive at least $3,000.

Each of the scholarships offered through Fresno State can be found on the Fresno State Web site.

There are also links to other scholarship Web sites and search engines that Fresno State approves of.

The online application is a simple way for a student to put themselves in the pool. A student’s identification number, permanent address and phone number are required along with the student’s income information for the year and his or her parents’ income information for the year.

Along with a GPA verification form, students will be prompted to enter three personal statements about their previous year’s achievements and their career objectives. The Web site suggests that the students have their statements complete before filling out the application.

Varela gives lectures to University I students so they can get into the swing of things early on in their college careers. He said students often come into his office with basic questions.

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