RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) members are continuing their investment in the educational future of North Carolina students through the renewal of SECU Foundation’s “People Helping People” High School and Community College scholarship programs. Both programs represent the allocation of over $4 million in scholarships annually, providing students with the resources to help pursue their dream of attaining a college education. The 2016 grant renewal now brings the Foundation’s collective financial commitment to more than $50 million since its inception in 2004.
The high school program provides a $10,000 four-year college scholarship to a graduating senior from each of the regular public high schools and three charter high schools in North Carolina. The scholarship is awarded for study at one of the 17 constituent campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Beginning in 2016, SECU Foundation will also award a $5,000, two-year scholarship to a graduating senior from each of the early college and cooperative innovative high schools in the state. The community college program provides two $5,000 scholarships annually to each of the 58 community colleges in the North Carolina Community College System.
Scholarship recipients are chosen by each school’s scholarship selection committee based on their embodiment of the credit union philosophy of “People Helping People,” recognizing leadership, excellence of character, integrity and community involvement, along with an overall academic grade point average of 2.5 or higher.
Robbinsville High School graduate Zachary Beasley was the recipient of a $10,000 scholarship in 2015. In thanking SECU members he noted, “I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for your confidence in me so that I could attend college. Your financial support has enabled me to further my education at Appalachian State University and fulfill my dream of becoming an engineer.”