Scholarships and Grants from Idaho
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The Idaho State Board of Education administers quite a number of state-funded scholarships and grants. Besides the programs focused on general Idaho students, there are also those designed for out-of-state students, minorities and educators and healthcare professionals.
General Scholarships and Grants
The Idaho Governor's Challenge Scholarship program is intended as an incentive to challenge Idaho's high school students to tackle their pre-college curriculum with zeal in anticipation of a rigorous college career. The scholarship also recognizes those students who have had an active history in community programs and volunteer activities. But for the most part, students are not required to be Yale-bound scholars. The Idaho Governor's Challenge requires recipients to be decent students with a 2.8 GPA. Students may pursue either an academic track or a technical one. Award amounts are near $3000.
The Robert R. Lee Promise Category A Scholarship (aka State of Idaho Scholarship) is offered to Idaho students based on academic or technical merit. These $3000 scholarships are available to residents enrolled full-time at an Idaho state-funded college or university. Academic students are required to have a 3.5 GPA, while technical students need a 2.8 GPA.
The federally funded Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarships rewards academic excellence to students in all states. A certain number of honors-level high school seniors in each state are chosen by a board of professional educators to be scholarship recipients. Recipients are awarded $1500 per academic year and the scholarship is renewable. Students may attend a full-time college degree program anywhere they wish, with the exception of a military academy and must already have been accepted.
The Tschudy Family Scholarship is unique to Idaho. The program is available to eligible Idaho residents with the particular requirement that they have graduated from Emmett High School. Recipients must plan to pursue four-year degrees at Idaho State University, Boise State University, Lewis-Clark State College, or the University of Idaho. Recipients may be pursuing either an undergraduate or graduate degree. Scholarships are in the amount of $2500.
Idaho's Freedom Scholarship honors veterans killed or wounded in action, or POWs who have been imprisoned during "armed conflict" by providing full tuition for their children. In order to receive the full benefits of the scholarship, students must agree to attend an Idaho state college or university.
Similar to the Freedom Scholarship, the Public Safety Officer Dependent Scholarship subsidizes the college educations of children of public safety personnel who have been either killed or disabled in the line of duty. Full tuition is provided, plus a stipend for books if the student attends an Idaho state college or university.
Many Idaho students may find themselves qualifying to receive the few hundred dollars disbursed through the Robert R. Lee Promise Category B Scholarship. Eligible students must have a GPA of 3.0. Many Idaho state-funded colleges and universities match the award amount.
Designed to attract out of state students to Idaho colleges and universities, the Leveraging Educational Assistance State Partnership Program (LEAP) was originally named the Idaho State Student Incentive Grant. Out of state students who can prove serious financial need may qualify to receive grants up to $5000 to help cover tuition expenses at Idaho state colleges and universities.
Idaho's Minority/At Risk Student Scholarships recognize those students whose college educations may be in peril due to a variety of situational problems, including economic disadvantage, cultural, social or familial support issues. Students assisted by the program include disabled, minorities, first in family for college students, migrant laborers and dependents. Eligible students must be U.S. and Idaho citizens and residents and be graduates of an Idaho high school. Scholarships are available up to $3000 per academic year, up to four years.
Specialized Study Scholarships and Grants
Like many other states, Idaho too has identified underserved and impoverished areas in which there are critical shortages of nurses, medical professionals and teachers. To these ends the state offers a few student assistance programs designed to pay tuition or exchange loan repayment for work.
Teachers and nurses may consider the Education Incentive Loan Forgiveness Program. In exchange for professional work in designated underserved areas in Idaho, students pursuing nursing or teaching, or those who are already working, but have serious student loan debt, may receive full loan repayment. Students agree to work upon graduation.
The Idaho State Board of Education has partnered with a number of other western colleges and universities to offer the Medicine/Veterinary/Dentistry Scholarships. Idaho students pursuing medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine have the opportunity to study out of state in high-quality programs for less than the usual cost of the institution's tuition. The purpose of the program is to provide students in programs that often cost many thousands of dollars, a more reasonable tuition option.
Go to the Idaho State Board of Education scholarship website for full details about these scholarships and other educational programs.
