USA Funds Awards Florida Residents $942,750 in Scholarships

Scholarships will help 642 Florida residents pay for college INDIANAPOLIS, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- USA Funds(R), the nation'sleading education-loan guarantor, announces the award of $942,750 inscholarships to help 642 low-to-moderate-income Florida residents pursuehigher education. USA Funds awarded $361,500 in scholarships to 241 Florida residents whoare first-time recipients of USA Funds Access to Education Scholarships(R)for the 2007-2008 academic year. In addition, USA Funds awarded $581,250 inrenewal scholarships to 401 Florida residents who previously had receivedawards under the program. "Consistent with USA Funds' nonprofit mission to enhancehigher-education preparedness, access and success, we are pleased to helpthese students pay for postsecondary education," said Henry L. Fernandez,USA Funds executive director, access and outreach. "During the past sixyears, USA Funds' national scholarship program has awarded more than $42million in scholarships to more than 13,000 students nationwide." To qualify for the scholarships, students must come from householdswith annual incomes of $35,000 or less. Full-time and half-timeundergraduate students, as well as full-time graduate and professionalstudents, are eligible for $1,500 scholarships. If a scholarship recipient maintains a grade-point average of at least2.5, the scholarship may be renewed annually until the student receives adegree or certificate, or the total amount awarded reaches $6,000,whichever comes first. For a list of first-time USA Funds Access to Education Scholarshiprecipients for 2007-2008, visit http://www.usafunds.org/scholarship. Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Funds is a nonprofit corporationthat works to enhance postsecondary-education preparedness, access andsuccess by providing and supporting financial and other valued services.During the year ending Sept. 30, 2006, USA Funds guaranteed education loanstotaling $27.3 billion for students and parents throughout the nation. USAFunds serves as the designated guarantor of federal education loans ineight states: Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, Indiana, Kansas,Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada and Wyoming. USA Funds also invests more than$16 million annually in scholarships and outreach programs that advance itsmission of support to higher education. For more information about USAFunds, visit http://www.usafunds.org.