Merit-Based Scholarships For Iowa Residents
The state of Iowa likes to think of itself as "America's Heartland." This doesn't mean it ignores education. If anything, the state feels it goes hand in hand, even using a schoolhouse as one of its state images. It is also a state with a diversified economy that goes far beyond pure agronomics, with merit-based scholarships to reinforce this.
In fact, Iowa begins providing its residents with scholarship money before they even graduate high school. It set up the State of Iowa Scholarship, which awards high school students $400 if they do well on their nationally standardized tests. They must also declare intentions of going on to a state school and graduate in the top 15% of their class, with no application needed at all.
What does require an application is the All Iowa Opportunity Scholarships. This is part of the federally-sponsored TRIO Program. To qualify, a student must be in the last year of high school and be graduating with at least a 2.5 GPA. The applicant must also be planning to go to one of the state's Regent's universities or a community school. If accepted, he/she can get as much as $7,100 for the Regent's school or nearly $3,800 to the 2-year school. In special cases, it can also be renewable.
Two other components that are central to the state of Iowa are the state fair and farming. Iowans reinforce this with scholarships like the Governor Terry E. Branstad Iowa State Fair Scholarship. This is actually a program that offers a number of different smaller scholarships, over 100 of them, generally ranging from $500 to $1,000 each. They can be for anything from raising the best livestock to other activities held at the Iowa State Fair.
Another important part of Iowa is the Farm Bureau. This organization annually hands out scholarships to children of its members who are going to college for agriculture and related fields of study. Last year, it awarded these students awards of $1,000 each. There are also smaller, specialized awards generally ranging at about $500.
The state has another scholarship for overall scholastic excellence. The Robert D. Blue Scholarship awards $500 to $1,000 to top graduating secondary school students. They must also provide two letters of recommendation and fill out an essay not only discussing their literary prowess but discussing their exceptional qualities in truth, courage and fellowship.
Also on a pure academic front, the state participates in the Robert C. Byrd Honors and Horatio P. Alger programs. The former awards top academic high school grads with $1,500 a year to the U.S. school of choice. In the case of the Alger, they must have a minimum 2.0 grade point average and come from what the plan describes as overcoming great obstacles.
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