Colorado State University-Pueblo’s credentials earned the university the GEICO Achievement Award, which will present $75,000 in scholarships to students.
This marks the first time that CSU-Pueblo has been selected as a GEICO Achievement Award recipient, and was the only school in Colorado to allow students to apply for the scholarships, according to the student career center.
Tanya Baird, internship coordinator for CSU-Pueblo, encourages students to get
involved with scholarships like this that are chosen specifically for CSU-Pueblo.
“This is the first year that CSU-Pueblo was chosen for this award and it looks great for the university,” Baird said.
The $75,000 will be disbursed in $1,000 dollar increments to different students. Only one scholarship of $1,000 can be awarded to each individual.
Certain criteria must be met in order to apply. Applicants must be sophomores or juniors and enrolled in the business program. Students must also have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
CSU-Pueblo had to meet certain criteria in order to even be considered for the award. One of the main standards that had to be met was that the university had to meet Hispanic Servicing Institute standards.
“HSI stands for Hispanic Servicing Institute, which means 25 percent of the population of the university has to be Hispanic, which CSU-Pueblo meets,” Baird said.
To be able to meet HSI standards is a very prestigious honor for a university. CSU-Pueblo is one of the only universities in Colorado to meet these criteria’s, Baird said.
“Even though the scholarship goes through the university, CSU-Pueblo has no control over which students are chosen for the scholarships,” Baird said.
“Students must go to the GEICO Web site and apply. From that point it is up to the company to choose which students will actually receive the scholarships. CSU-Pueblo does not have a hand in the picking process,” Baird said.
According to information that was given by Baird, CSU-Pueblo’s main job is to promote the scholarship to students and make sure that students know where to get more information.
Along with information about the GEICO scholarship, other scholarship information is available in the career center.
Partnering with the career center the, CSU-Pueblo Foundation also has a hand in helping students find information on scholarships as well as partnering with groups to bring in financial help for students which can be found on CSU-Pueblo’s Web site.
Julie Rodriguez, CSU-Pueblo’s Foundation development officer, encourages students to look into this scholarship and find out more information and to take full advantage of these opportunities.
A link is available on the CSU-Pueblo Foundation Web site that will direct students to a full list of scholarships which are available for the current school year and also information on when they are due along with the requirements that are to be met.
The application deadline for the GEICO scholarship is Feb. 20, 2010l Students who wish to apply for the scholarship must go to www.geico.jobs/achievement. .
Recipients will be notified by May 31, 2010, according to the the GEICO Web site.
