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Blandin Foundation Education Grants awarded to 338 local students

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – Blandin Foundation recently shared with 338 Itasca area students that they have been awarded grants of up to $4,500 for their education after high school, putting higher education better within financial reach.

The total amount awarded for 2016-17 is $1,004,500 to students from 11 area schools.

“Our education grant program has a strong and important history with Itasca area communities,” said Dr. Kathleen Annette, CEO of the Blandin Foundation. “For 60 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. We stand with each student as they pursue their educational goals.”

Education Grants are available for education after high school, including certificate programs, community and technical colleges, and college and university.

Awards are made on a needs-based system. Grant amounts are based on the federal government’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) formulas, and are intended to close the final gap between what already is available to the student and what it’s going to take to achieve their dream.

Students who graduated from the following high schools qualify: Bigfork, Blackduck, Bug o Nay ge Shig, Deer River, Grand Rapids, Greenway, Hill City, Nashwauk-Keewatin, Northern Lights Community School, Northome, Northland – Remer. Home-schooled students who would have graduated from one of these schools also are eligible. Students under age 25 are encouraged to apply, even if they have not received an Education Grant in the past.

New applications available October 1

Students must reapply for Education Grants each year – and they can apply earlier this year than in past years. Blandin Foundation has moved up the dates it will accept 2017-18 applications to October 1, 2016 – March 1, 2017. This change aligns the Foundation’s application with new FAFSA timelines.

Education Grants are Blandin  Foundation’s longest-running program, with the first awards given in 1956 by founder Charles K. Blandin.  Since then, more than 15,000 area young adults have received grants totaling more than $23 million. For more on the program, visit the Foundation’s website,  www.blandinfoundation.org, or join the Education Grants Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/322961874388140/?ref=br_tf

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Located in Grand Rapids, Minn., Blandin Foundation is one of only a handful of foundations in the U.S. focused exclusively on rural communities and the largest rural-based private foundation in Minnesota.  The Foundation seeks and supports vibrant rural Minnesota communities.

 

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