The competition aims to increase the number of high school students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Filling out the FAFSA, a government form that streamlines the college financial aid process, is a must to qualify for assistance and reduce student loan burden.
The three winning high schools will each be given a $1,500 scholarship to award to a graduating senior. There are three categories to win:
- Greatest overall growth – the school that experiences the highest growth in FAFSA submissions over the previous year.
- Growth of 5 percent or more – all schools that experience growth of 5 percent or more over the previous year were entered in a drawing for the scholarship.
- Submission rate of 75 percent or higher – all schools with a 75 percent submission rate or higher were entered into a drawing for the scholarship.
Lakewood Park Christian School had the greatest overall growth, with an increase of almost 30 percent compared to last year, which brought their FAFSA submission rate from 60 percent to 89 percent.
Manchester Junior-Senior High School was selected from a pool of schools that achieved a growth of 5 percent or more. Manchester had a submission rate of 75 percent.
Concordia Lutheran High School was selected from a pool of schools that had 75 percent or more of seniors submitting the application. Concordia had a submission rate of nearly 79 percent.
For the last two years, NIPSCO has served as lead sponsor of the FAFSA Completion Competition.
“At NIPSCO, giving back to the communities we serve is a fundamental part of our culture. As the Northeast Indiana region works toward the shared goal of increasing educational attainment, we are happy to help in that talent development by funding scholarships to our area students to provide the necessary support critical to pursuing a trade certification or college degree,” said Dana Berkes, public affairs manager at NIPSCO.
“Under the Regional Partnership’s Vision 2030 structure, we are strategically working with community and business leaders to advance talent development in our 11 counties with the goal of increasing educational attainment to 60 percent. By encouraging schools across the region to further engage their students to increase FAFSA completion, we are providing students with easier access to financial aid and scholarships,” said Ryan Twiss, vice president of regional initiatives at the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.
To learn more, visit the website at www.neindiana.com.
About the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership
The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership’s mission is to build, market and sell Northeast Indiana to increase business investment. Founded in 2006, the public-private partnership strives to build a globally competitive region. The Partnership’s Vision 2030 framework supports collaborative regional efforts to increase per capita income, population growth and educational attainment by emphasizing business attraction, talent attraction and talent development. The Partnership represents 11 member counties: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties. For more information, visit www.neindiana.com.