Kent County’s leading scholarship provider, Grand Rapids Community Foundation, recently awarded and distributed $871,850 through 552 different scholarship funds.The scholarship amounts range from $300 to $10,000 with over 500 awards being $1,000 or more. The Foundation processed over 1777 scholarship program applications for the 2013-2014 academic year.

• Of the scholarship recipients, 63 percent are female; 37 percent are male.
• This year, 53 percent of scholarship recipients are first generation college students.
• 16 percent of the scholarships awarded were to current or former graduates of GrandRapids Public Schools.

Michigan colleges received 76 percent of all the awards, which is $662,550 of the total $871,850 available funds. The top awarded Michigan colleges include: Grand Valley State University with $142,700, Grand Rapids Community College with $71,300, Michigan State University with $63,000 and the University of Michigan with $46,700.

“We appreciate the good work of the community volunteers who make up the 21 scholarship selection committees. The committees are very thoughtful in carrying out the wishes of the donors who have established over scholarship funds at the Foundation,” said Ruth Bishop, Education Program Officer.

New scholarships awarded this year include the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids Minority Scholarship Fund. This award was established to provide undergraduate scholarships to Kent County students of color attending a nonprofit public or private college/university majoring in Fine Arts including all visual and performing art forms. In addition to this new award is the Darooge Family Scholarship Fund which was established to provide scholarships to full-time undergraduate students majoring in a construction-related field at any accredited two or four-year college/university/trade school in Michigan.