New scholarship opportunities available

There are two new opportunities for North Dakota students to academically earn scholarship money to attend any of the post-secondary institutions in North Dakota. Students who receive a 24 composite score on the ACT can receive $750 per semester for up to four years of post-secondary educational costs. This could amount to as much as $6,000. Once they are in college, they must maintain a 2.75 college GPA.

The graduates of class of 2010 have an opportunity for two scholarships which are the North Dakota Academic Scholarship and the North Daktoa Career & Technical Scholarship. The North Dakota Academic Scholarship requires a 24 on the student’s ACT. The money will be sent each semester to the student’s designated North Dakota institution. This will be verified by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

The North Dakota Career Scholarship requires the student to earn a 24 on the ACT or take the WorkKeys assessment program from ACT and earn at least a five on each of the three tests. The WorkKeys assessment consists of Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics and Locating Information. The class of 2010 will have until Feb.6, 2010, to take the ACT test or to take the WorkKeys test.

The class of 2011 and beyond requirements change drastically. With the Academic Scholarship, students must meet the following requirements: 1) One credit of Algebra II; 2) One credit for a math that Algebra II as a pre-requisite; 3) Two credits of the same foreign language or Native American language; 4) one credit of fine arts or career and technical education; 5) One additional credit of a foreign language, fine arts, or career and technical education; 6) obtain a grade of a “C” in each credit or half-credit required for the diploma; 7) have a cumulative GPA of at least a “B”; 8) a 24 on the ACT; 9) One credit of an advanced placement course with the examination or a dual-credit course.

The Career and Technical Scholarship for the class of 2011 and beyond requirements differ. To receive the scholarship, students must meet these requirements: 1) One credit of Algebra II; 2) Two credits of an approved plan of study of career and technical education coursework; 3) Three additional credits, two of which must be in the area of career and technical education; 4) obtain a “C” in each credit or half-credit required for the diploma; 5) obtain a cumulative grade point of a “3.0”; 6) receive either a 24 on the ACT or earns at least a 5 on each of the three WorkKeys Assessments.

In addition to these requirements, the class of 2011 will be taking the ACT or the WorkKeys on the morning of April 28, 2010. A meeting was held on Oct. 12 with junior and senior parents to explain the new requirements. This test will be paid for by the Jamestown Public School District. ACT scores are required for admission to all North Dakota colleges and technical schools. The WorkKeys test option will be coordinated by James Valley Career and Technology Center. Anyone who has questions should contact Jane Aune or Gayle Nelson at the high school or Margaret Doyle at the James Valley Career Career and Technology Center.

Tags: community, education, scholarships