Newport and Portsmouth Students Invited to Apply for $1.5m in College Scholarships

PROVIDENCE, RI – At the time of year when colleges are sending out financial aid packages, the Rhode Island Foundation has announced it is now accepting applications for more than $1.5 million in scholarships.

Dozens of individual, family and organizational donors established scholarship funds at the Foundation to help students defray educational expenses such as tuition, room and board, fees and books.

“Each one of these scholarships turns dreams into reality for our donors and our recipients,” said Neil Steinberg, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “The impact of their generosity will ripple through community for generations.”

In addition to general scholarship assistance, some funds target students from specific geographic areas such as Newport and Portsmouth.

The Miss Swinburne Scholarship is open to women living in Newport County with financial need. Preference will be given to highly motivated women seeking to further their education or training in order to become self-supporting.

The John Raymond Parker Jr. Memorial Scholarship, Charles E. and Agnes J. McCarthy Memorial Scholarship, Victoria Johnson Scholarship and Harold B. Werner Scholarship target Rogers High School graduates, while the Robert and Kathleen Crudup Family Scholarship Fund goes to Portsmouth High School graduates.

The Foundation also offers a number of awards targeting students studying everything from social work or the arts to textile technology or economics. The Albert and Florence Newton, Edward and Virginia Routhier, Willard and Marjorie Scheibe and Alan Edgar Wurdeman scholarships are for students studying nursing.

“My scholarships allow me the opportunity to continue toward my goal of obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting,” said Kaitlin Bove, a Middletown resident who is studying at Salve Regina University. “Additionally, the awards provide me with the emotional validation that hard work pays off. My hope is to one day pay my good fortune forward by helping others receive a college education.”

Other funds provide assistance based on gender, economic status or special circumstance.

The Melvin and Patty Alperin First Generation Scholarship is earmarked for high school seniors whose parents did not graduate from college, while the Bruce and Marjorie Sundlun Scholarship and Frances Macartney Porter Fund are open to low-income single parents.

A complete list of scholarships, application deadlines and eligibility requirements is posted on the Foundation’s website at www.rifoundation.org.