AIC to offer city employee scholarships
SPRINGFIELD--It will be easier for city workers in Springfield to send their
children to college, thanks to a new program being offered by American
International College. As part of the college’s community initiative, AIC is
offering the dependents of all Springfield city employees a $10,000 scholarship,
$2,500 a year, renewable for four years.
Congressman Richard E. Neal (D-Springfield) and Springfield Mayor Charles
Ryan were on hand Monday, as AIC President Vince Maniaci announced the details
of the program.
"We are all aware of the challenges which face the city and we hope this
scholarship program will significantly assist the hard working people employed
by the City of Springfield," Maniaci said. "This scholarship linked with other
forms of financial aid, a four year private college education at AIC will be in
reach of every city employee."
Maniaci said the program is good for the college and good for the
community. "This initiative is being undertaken as a further outreach to the
greater Springfield community and is a key component to the College's Community
Engagement Initiative, which includes $10,000 scholarships for students residing
in owner-occupied housing within the Bay area of Springfield, the Joint
Admission Programs with Springfield Technical Community College and Holyoke
Community College, and the Jump Start Program, which allows high school students
to take college classes at AIC."
Representative Richard E. Neal is an AIC alumnus, and a frequent visitor
to the area. "Whenever I drive by AIC or walk through the quad here at AIC,
there are just a few words that always cross my mind … 'opportunity beckons,'"
he said at the conference. “Springfield has some terrific city employees,” he
said, adding later “they work hard, oftentimes in a very unheralded fashion, and
they make a difference in our lives every single day."
In addition to being a dependent of a full-time City of Springfield
employee, applicants must meet the admissions requirements of the college,
submit a completed Financial Aid Form be accepted by the College as a full time
undergraduate day student and achieve satisfactory academic progress toward
degree completion. City employees must maintain full time employment with the
City of Springfield during the scholarship award period.
Applicants for September 2006 are eligible for the City of Springfield
Scholarship program.
“This is becoming a very nice habit,” said Springfield Mayor Charles V.
Ryan about returning to speak at AIC. “I want to salute... the sensitivity of the
college leadership in identifying the dependents of city employees,” he said,
acknowledging that a multitude of other groups could have been targeted for the
scholarship. "The men and women who serve our community, whether they're
teachers or firefighters or DPW workers ... they're all part of the fabric that
keeps this city together, and to have them have this opportunity for their sons
and daughters … it's a tremendously significant gift."
For more information, contact the AIC Office of Public Relations at (413)
205-3231.
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American International College
1000 State Street
Springfield MA 01109
(800) 242-3142
inquiry@aic.edu
