Onward Program Students Receive First Schmelzer College Transition Scholarships
Contact: Alan Parks, Director, University of Maine College Success Programs, 581-2320 alan.parks@umit.maine.edu
ORONO—Paying for college just became a bit easier for four students in the University of Maine Onward Program, thanks to a scholarship from the Maine Community Foundation (Maine CF). Christine Boobar of LaGrange, John Goater of Old Town, Nawal Dekkaki of Bass Harbor, and Dianne Herring of Bangor are recipients of the first Henry L.P. Schmelzer College Transitions Fund Scholarship presented at the Onward Program Graduate Recognition Receptionon May 2.
Throughout his tenure as president of the Maine Community Foundation, Hank Schmelzer was an advocate for higher education in Maine, heping to launch the Maine Compact for Higher Education in 2003. At his retirement in December 2008, generous donors recognized his leadership by establishing the Schmelzer College Transitions Scholarship Fund to support the post-secondary aspirations of Maine adults returning to school.
“The generosity of Mr. Schmelzer and the Maine Community Foundation will have enormous impact on our students,” says Alan Parks, director of the Onward Program, “especially at a time of shrinking financial aid and rising college costs.” He welcomed the support for older students who often have families, mortgages and other financial commitments. “They’re highly motivated students,” Parks says, “and they need all the help they can get.”
“MaineCF chose to partner with the University of Maine Onward Program because of its demonstrated success in helping Maine adults enter and complete college,” says Jean Warren, scholarship funds manager at the foundation. MaineCF manages more than 400 scholarship funds.