Page 13 - 2024 April report

ZOOM MEETING WITH SCHOLARSHIP AMERICA
April 8, 2024
Scholarship America Participants: Lydia Rux, Maria Lokensgard
JSF Participants: Bobby Krause, Lady Hereford, Sharon Wood
This meeting was requested by JSF to discuss where things stand regarding the number of new applicants for the UPS Scholarship Program for the 2024-2025 school year, the projected number of renewals and the estimated total amount of scholarships to be awarded. The 2024-2025 scholarship window closed on March 15, which represented a 2-week extension approved by JSF from the original deadline of March 1.
The meeting began with introductions. Lydia Rux is the Program Manager for JSF’s Scholarship program. She has been with Scholarship America for more than 3 years and began management of the UPS program in November of last year. Maria Lokensgard, Senior Program Manager, has been with Scholarship America for 22 years.
Bobby offered a brief summary of the actions taken since October 2023 to address the issue of declining applications. Of particular concern to the Grant Program Committee is the matter of bonus awards that Scholarship America has sent out the past few years. Since October, JSF has had numerous contact points with UPS to gauge how the scholarship is being promoted to its employees. Through those conversations, JSF learned that several key people at UPS were not aware of the program. Also, there have been several internal changes, and from a marketing standpoint, there isn’t a place for it to fit into their current structure. JSF desires to right-size the program so that it meets the existing need. Maria commented that college attendance overall has declined the past couple of years, though she did see an uptick this year in applications.
The conversation then moved to Scholarship America’s report on use of 2023 funds. Lydia reported that 145 students each received bonus checks of $3,300 in the fall of 2023, representing a total distribution of $478,500. It was the third consecutive year that bonus checks had been awarded. Bobby asked whether there have been situations in which the awards exceed the financial need of some students. Lydia said that may be the case for some of the students in 2-year programs, but she would have to check on that. Bobby then asked how do the maximum scholarships of $5,000 for students in 2-year programs and $10,000 for students in 4-year programs compare with other programs managed by Scholarship America? Maria noted that amount is higher than the average award of $3,800. However, because college costs keep rising, she asked whether JSF would consider increasing the amounts of the base award. The $5,000 and $10,000 limits have been in place since 2008. This led to a brief discussion of whether UPS would have to be involved in such a decision. While it does not appear that UPS has been involved in setting the maximum levels in the past, this will need to be confirmed.
Looking ahead to the next school year, Lydia reported that 101 first-time applicants started the application by the March 15 deadline, and of those, 66 submitted. Scholarship America started reviewing the 66 applications and determined 52 are eligible. In addition, 89 students are eligible to renew their scholarships from last year, bringing the total to 141 students total eligible to receive awards. Lydia and Maria noted that the deadline extension appears to have brought in an additional 20 new applicants. However, the overall number has been fairly stagnant since 2022. This is disappointing considering the extra promotion efforts promised by UPS this year. Maria suggested one possible reason is that there aren’t as many Florida UPS employees with children that age.
The discussion then turned to the minimum number of applicants it would take to make the program operate as intended. Maria and Lydia agree with JSF’s estimate that it would take at least 200 new and returning applicants to create a pool in which the current funding level would be fully utilized. Ideally, 100 successful new applicants – about twice the number from this year – would approach that amount.
Education / A Powerful force for change Page 11