Illinois State Black Colleague Association and Latinx Alumni Association Open Scholarship Applications

Photo provided courtesy of the Illinois State Black Colleagues Association

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Black Colleagues Association has been awarding scholarships at Illinois State University since 1987 and since then they’ve been able to expand exponentially to benefit students.

When the ISBCA first started their lone scholarship to award was valued at $500. Now they proudly boast 20 scholarships to award to current and future students. The primary scholarship offered is the Andrew Purnell Jr. Scholarship, which awards $5,000. The Latinx Alumni Association is following suit, with their first scholarship being awarded in 2015, and being worth $500. 

“Typically when looking at most scholarships, they go to students that have the highest GPA,” said Program Director Lindsey Dean. “But there’s students that are talented in so many other areas as well.”

While GPA is factored into the decision while awarding scholarships, other factors like service to the community, also are important. The Black Colleagues Association gets around 60 completed applications a year, mostly from incoming freshman students.

“I would really encourage current students to apply,” Dean stated. “Typically we get many freshmen applying and almost no current students.”

Scholarship applications are due by December 7th, students will be able to find out if they were chosen around mid March.