Blandin Foundation Education Grant deadline is March 1

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (February 9, 2018) –Blandin Foundation’s applications for need-based education grants are available and being accepted until March 1. Up to $1 million will be granted to Itasca County area students pursuing school after high school during the 2018-2019 school year.

Grants are available to local students who will or have graduated from one of the following high schools: Grand Rapids, Bigfork, Deer River, Hill City, Greenway, Nashwauk-Keewatin, Remer, Blackduck, Northome, Bug-o-Nay-ge-Shig, Northern Lights Community School, and home-schooled students who could have attended school in one of the qualifying schools. To be eligible, students must be under the age of 25 as of September 1, 2018, be registered as a full-time student (12 credits per semester) at any accredited trade school or two-year or four-year college or university, and make satisfactory academic progress toward their degree program (at least a 2.0 GPA or higher).

Recipients are selected on a need-based system, and amounts are based on the federal government’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) formulas. Other factors considered include total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and miscellaneous expenses), family income, and number of siblings also attending college.

Students can receive $1,000 to $4,500, and must reapply each year. The Foundation’s education grants are available for a variety of forms of post-secondary (after high school) education, including college and university, community and technical colleges, and certificate programs.

Education grants are part of the Foundation’s focus on life-long learning, one of the nine dimensions of a healthy community. The program is the Foundation’s longest-running, with the first awards given in 1956 by founder Charles K. Blandin. Since then, more than 15,000 area youth have received scholarships totaling more than $31 million.

“Our education grant program has a strong and important history with Itasca area communities,” said Kathy Annette, president of the Blandin Foundation. “For 61 years we have worked with area students to help achieve their dreams of further education. Achievement of our young people was a great passion of Mr. Blandin’s, as it is for the Foundation still today.”

Applications are available three ways. Students can pick them up at local high school counseling offices. They can be downloaded it from the Foundation’s web site (https://blandinfoundation.org/educationgrants). Or they can be requested from the Foundation directly by calling 218-326-0523 or by emailing educationgrants@BlandinFoundation.org.