RIVERDALE, Utah–Investing in continuing education for Utah’s youth, America First Credit Union has partnered with Cottages of Hope and the Ogden School District’s GearUp program to award four high school seniors with a $500 scholarship to the college of their choice.
The scholarships were given to well-deserving, low-to-moderate income students and minority populations, affording them the opportunity to achieve the dream of pursuing college, the credit union said.
The Ogden School District’s GearUp program is a seven-year grant focused on helping current seniors in the Ogden School District prepare for post-secondary educational opportunities. The program began when the students were in seventh grade and provided a variety of programming, including academic support, college readiness courses and tours of local college campuses. Cottages of Hope is a nonprofit organization, designed to provide meaningful, no-cost programs and services encouraging financial stability to low-income households and has been a key partner with the GearUp program since inception.
During the six years, students have been educated on the benefits of going to college, the importance of checking and savings accounts, as well as a variety of methods for saving for education. In addition, they have developed and achieved financial goals to establish budgets and to understand and build credit. Students who participated in the GearUp program, have a 3.0 GPA or higher, completed the FAFSA application and submitted an essay stating why they would be a good candidate. The scholarship recipients attended either Ben Lomond High School, Ogden High School or George Washington High School.