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A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further their education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria, which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Scholarship money is not required to be repaid.^[1]

Types[link]

The most common scholarships may be classified as:

• Merit-based: These awards are based on a student's academic, artistic, athletic or other abilities, and often factor in an applicant's extracurricular activities and community service record. The most common merit-based scholarships, awarded by either private organizations or directly by a student's intended college, recognize academic achievement or high scores on standardized tests. Most such merit-based scholarships are paid directly by the institution the student attends, rather than issued directly to the student.^[2]
• Need-based: In the United States, these awards are based on the student and family's financial record and require applicants to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to qualify if the scholarship is a federal award. Private need-based scholarships also often require the results of a FAFSA, which calculates a student's financial need through a formula that looks at the expected family contribution and cost of attendance at the intended college.^[3]
• Student-specific: These are scholarships where applicants must initially qualify by gender, race, religion, family and medical history, or many other student-specific factors. Minority scholarships are the most common awards in this category. For example, students in Canada may qualify for a number of aboriginal scholarships, whether they study at home or abroad. The Gates Millennium Scholars program is another minority scholarship funded by Bill and Melinda Gates for excellent African American, American Indian, Asian Pacific Islander American and Latino students who enroll in college.
• Career-specific: These are scholarships a college or university awards to students who plan to pursue a specific field of study. Often, the most generous awards to to students who pursue careers in high-need areas such as education or nursing. Many schools in the United States give future nurses full scholarships to enter the field, especially if the student intends to work in a high-need community.
• College-specific: College-specific scholarships are offered by individual colleges and universities to highly qualified applicants. These scholarships, given on the basis of academic and personal achievement, usually result in either a full-ride to the college, or for a reduced rate of tuition.

Some scholarships have a "bond" requirement. Recipients may be required to work for a particular employer for a specified period of time or to work in rural or remote areas; otherwise they may be required to repay the value of the support they received from the scholarship. This is particularly the case with education and nursing scholarships for people prepared to work in rural and remote areas. The programs offered by the uniformed services of the United States (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commissioned corps, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps) sometimes resemble such scholarships.

• "Athletic:" Awarded to students for showing exceptional skill in a sport provided by the college.

Local scholarships[link]

It is typical for persons to find scholarships in their home region. Information on these can be found by asking local institutions and organizations. Typically, these are less competitive as the eligible population is smaller.

• Guidance counselors: When starting to explore scholarship opportunities, most high school students check with their guidance counselors. They can be a reliable resource for local scholarships.
• Non-profits and charitable trusts: Most non-profit organizations have at some point of their history founded scholarships for prospective students. The Good Schools Guide, a guide to schools in the UK, states "Charitable grant-making trusts can help in cases of genuine need," and goes on to outline several instances where this may be the case, including an "unforeseen family disaster" and a "need for special education".
• Community foundations: Many counties and cities and regions have a local foundation dedicated to giving money in the form of grants and scholarships to people and organizations in the area.
• Music teachers: Some music teachers offer reduced-cost or free lessons to help low-income children gain access to an arts education. In addition, some local non-profits provide free music classes to youths.
• Foundations: Certain foundations in the United States offer scholarships for entrepreneurial endeavors.
• Trade union|Labor/trade unions: Major unions often offer scholarships for members and their dependent children.^{[citation needed]}
• Houses of worship: The local house of worship may or may not have any scholarships for their members, but the religious organization or headquarters may have some available. Of course, theology study is highly encouraged.
• Chamber of commerce: Many chambers of commerce offer (usually small) grants to students in the community, especially those planning on careers in business and public service. Even if they do not offer any themselves, one can usually get a listing of members, and many of them may offer small scholarships to local students.
• Other volunteer organizations: Many organizations offer scholarships or award grants to students whose background or chosen field overlaps the field of the organization. For example, local chapters of professional societies may help the studies of exceptionally distinguished students of the region. Similarly, charity organizations may offer help, especially if the late parent of the student was a member of the organization (e.g., a Masonic lodge might help the orphan of a lodge brother.) This kind of scholarship is mostly ad hoc.
• School: Old, well-known schools are often endowed with scholarship funds.
• University: Old, well-established universities may have funds to finance the studies of extremely talented students of little means. Eligibility often requires that a student belong to some special category or be among a nation's best. However, universities provide information on scholarships and grants, possibly even internship opportunities.
• PSAT/NMSQT: In the United States, students are offered the opportunity to take the PSAT/NMSQT test, usually in their junior year of high school. National Merit Scholarship programs are initially determined by the scores received on the PSAT/NMSQT test. Some private scholarship programs require applicants to take the PSAT. The test can be used as preparation for the SAT.
• Disabilities: Students with disabilities may be able to apply for awards intended for people with disabilities. This may be disabilities in general or in relation to a specific disability.^[4]

Controversy[link]

It has become more prevalent today that scholarships are misconceived to have a discriminatory quality to them. For example, as demonstrated by student-specific scholarships, minorities are thought to have a priority over Caucasian students when it comes to receiving these scholarships.

These beliefs are known to come from college students themselves who have been affected by their failures at obtaining adequate financial aid. Mark Kantrowitz, Publisher of the FinAid and Fastweb web sites owned by Monster Worldwide and author of the Amazon.com bestseller Secrets to Winning a Scholarship , has explained that the average family tends to overestimate their eligibility for merit-based awards and underestimate their eligibility for need-based awards. These high expectations lead to disappointing results, and many people tend to find someone else to blame for their faults. In turn, the most persistent target of this disapproval tends to be high-profile, minority-based scholarships.

Although many people believe the minorities are responsible for their inability to find scholarships, studies have shown that Caucasians receive 72 percent of all scholarships while their minority counterparts only receive 28 percent. The misconceptions have led many people, including Colby Bohannan, to create “Caucasians Only” scholarships in hopes of bringing equality to higher education.

Other sources of information on scholarships are libraries, newspapers, the yellow pages, and Internet search engines.

See also[link]

Look up scholarship in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Athletic scholarship
• Bursary
• Demyship
• Exhibition
• Fellowship
• Financial aid (educational expenses)
• List of North American scholarships

Notes[link]

References[link]

• DiFiore, Laura, et al. "Tips on Finding Scholarships." FreSch! Free Scholarship Search. 1997.
• Martin, Michel. "Scholarships: Who Gets Them and Why?" Tell me More 17 Mar. 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 19 Mar. 2012.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2010)

Eddie Bernice Johnson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 30th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1993
Preceded by	District Re-created
Member of the Texas Senate from the 23rd district
In office 1987–1993
Preceded by	Oscar Mauzy
Succeeded by	Royce West
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 33rd district
In office 1973–1977
Preceded by	District Created
Succeeded by	Lanell Cofer
Personal details
Born	(1935-12-03) December 3, 1935 (age 76) Waco, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Divorced
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Alma mater	Saint Mary's College-Indiana, Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University
Occupation	Nurse, Therapist
Religion	Baptist

Eddie Bernice Johnson (born December 3, 1935) is a politician from the state of Texas, currently representing the state's 30th congressional district (map) in the United States House of Representatives. She is the first registered nurse elected to the US Congress.

Early life, education, and medical career[link]

Johnson was born in Waco, Texas. She began her college education at Saint Mary's College of Notre Dame, Indiana and transferred to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, from which she received a bachelor's degree in nursing. She later attended Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, and earned an MPA in 1976. She worked as a nurse in a Dallas hospital and later as a psychotherapist before entering politics.

Early political career[link]

She was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1972 and served for three terms. She was an administrator for the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1977 to 1981. She was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1986. As a state senator, she was on the redistricting committee where she was instrumental in shaping the district she represents. By design the 30th Congressional District has a strong probability of electing an African-American and a Democrat.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

In 1992, she decided to retire from the Texas Senate to run for the newly created Texas' 30th congressional district. She defeated Republican nominee Lucy Cain 72%-25%.^[1] In 1994, she defeated Lucy Cain again 73%-26%.^[2] In 1996, she won re-election to a third term with just 55% of the vote, the worst election performance of her congressional career.^[3] After that, she never won re-election with less than 72% of the vote.

Tenure[link]

The 17th chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, she was a leading voice in opposition to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. During debate on the house floor, she stated:

"I am not convinced that giving the President the authority to launch a unilateral, first-strike attack on Iraq is the appropriate course of action at this time. While I believe that under international law and under the authority of our Constitution, the United States must maintain the option to act in its own self-defense, I strongly believe that the administration has not provided evidence of an imminent threat of attack on the United States that would justify a unilateral strike. I also believe that actions alone, without exhausting peaceful options, could seriously harm global support for our war on terrorism and distract our own resources from this cause."

She was one of the 31 who voted in the House against counting the electoral votes from Ohio in the United States presidential election, 2004. [1]

During the 2007 primary campaign, Johnson initially supported U.S. Senator John Edwards for president. After his withdrawal from the race, she pledged her support as a superdelegate to Barack Obama in 2008.

Scholarship scandal

In August 2010, Amy Goldson, counsel for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, said that Johnson violated organizational rules by awarding scholarship money to four relatives and two children of a top aide. Awards come with an anti-nepotism rule, and winners must live or study in the Congress member's district. Johnson said she "unknowingly" made a mistake in awarding the grants and would work with the foundation to rectify it.^[4] Johnson said, "I recognized the names when I saw them. And I knew that they had a need just like any other kid that would apply for one."

Soon after Johnson denied having involvement in the scholarship process, opponent Stephen Broden released letters bearing Johnson's signature in which the representative requested that the scholarship check be made and sent directly to her relatives instead of to the University as would normally be procedure.^[5] Subsequently, the Dallas Morning News ran an editorial questioning her changing story on the matter.^[6]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
  • Subcommittee on Research and Science Education
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment (Chairwoman)

Caucus memberships[link]

• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Black Caucus

References[link]

External links[link]

• Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson official U.S. House site
• Eddie Bernice Johnson for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch

v t e Chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus Diggs • Stokes • Rangel • Burke • Mitchell • Collins • Fauntroy • Dixon • Leland • Dymally • Dellums • Towns • Mfume • Payne • Waters • Clyburn • Johnson • Cummings • Watt • Kilpatrick • Lee • Cleaver