Anyone who falls in that demographic knows the background of this program and the impact that state budget cuts are having on it.

But if you are wondering what that letter is all about, The Detroit Free Press is reporting on Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s efforts to revive the Michigan Promise Scholarship program.

Soroptimist International of Monroe County, Mich., invites local women to apply for monetary awards to help them in pursuing higher education.

The following awards are available:

• The Violet Richardson Award honors a 14- to 17-year-old for her commitment to make the world a better place through volunteer activities. This is a $1,000 award; the deadline to apply is Dec. 1.
• The Women’s Opportunity Award gives women the resources they need to improve their education, skills and employment prospects. Eligible applicants must be women who provide the primary financial support for their families and who are enrolled in or have been accepted to a vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate degree program. This is a $1,000 award; the deadline to apply is Dec. 15.
• The Virginia Wagner Educational Award honors a woman who is pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in her chosen field. Emphasis is put on scholarship and effort toward education. This is a $1,000 award; the deadline to apply is Jan. 15.
• The Soroptimist Ruby Award: For Women Helping Women (formerly The Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award) acknowledges women who, through their personal or professional activities, work to improve the lives of women and girls. Honorees are ordinary women who have worked in extraordinary ways to benefit women and girls. This is a $500 award to the charity of the honoree’s choice; the deadline to apply is Dec. 1.

Applications for all awards are available by calling Soroptimist member Peg at (734) 242-4935.

Soroptimist International of Monroe County is a part of Soroptimist International of the Americas, a volunteer organization for business and professional women who contribute time and financial support to community-based projects benefiting women and girls.

Inquiries about membership in the Monroe chapter may be directed by calling Lori at (734) 241-6015 or Barb at (734) 243-0489.

Kalamazoo, MI – The Nazareth Association is offering two $1,000 scholarships to undergraduate students who will be a junior or senior attending a Catholic college or university during the 2010-2011 academic year.

Applicants must be full time students and maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA. The application process includes the submission of the Nazareth Association scholarship application, a list of collegiate and extra-curricular activities, all undergraduate transcripts, completion of an essay stating the applicants’ educational and career goals, and three letters of recommendation.  The deadline for the scholarship application is March 15, 2010.

The Nazareth Association is comprised of alumni, friends, and benefactors dedicated to the tradition and mission of Nazareth College, Barbour Hall, Nazareth Academy and the Borgess/St. Camillus/St. Joseph Schools of Nursing.

The scholarship program is intended to support students at Catholic colleges and universities that reflect a purpose and philosophy similar to those institutions.

For further information on the scholarship program, interested persons should contact the Nazareth Association office at (269) 342-1191.

If you are seeking scholarship money and are one of my local readers in Monroe County, Mich., pay close attention to the Classroom Page of The Monroe Evening News during the next two to three months. That page runs on Thursdays and features school news. The Classroom Page is also where my co-workers and I put scholarship announcements such as this one that the foundations and sponsors are asking to be put in the newspaper.

This is one of the few military scholarships that children of reserve and guard families qualify for. You don’t have to live on or near a military base, although the application process is handled through the commissaries such as the one at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan.

If the child is a registered military family dependent in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, has a current military ID card, has a grade point average of 3.0 or better, and plans to attend college on a full-time basis, he or she can apply. My daughter won one of the 2007 scholarships from this program (Her father / my ex-husband serves in the Army Reserves.)

CinCHouse.com has the details or go to the scholarship page at MilitaryScholar.com

The Monroe County counselors and Monroe County Community  College will host their annual college expo from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 3 in the Welch Health Education Building on MCCC’s Main Campus, 1555 S. Raisinville Rd. in Monroe, Mich.

Admission representatives from more than 60 colleges and universities will be available to answer questions and provide information about their respective institutions. Grant, loan and scholarship professionals will also be in attendance.

For more information on College Night 2009, call the Admissions and Guidance Office at (734) 384-4105.

A note from your blogger: I highly recommend expos like this for students grades 10-12 and their parents as a way to get first-hand information about college admissions and financial aid. These events also will help narrow down the list of schools you plan to make formal visits to. My daughter was introduced to her college in Indiana by attending an MCCC College Night.

The Esquire Leadership & Mentor Program amd Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity will host their second annual “College Day: A Wealth of Opportunity!”  starting at 9 a.m. Saturday Oct. 17 at the Eastern Michigan University Student Center, 900 Oakwood St., Ypsilanti.

This event is free to all southeast Michigan parents and students. The program is aimed at preparing high school juniors, seniors and their parents on how to successfully navigate through the college admissions process.

The expected seminar topics are: Financial Aid & Scholarships, College Admissions Panel: Transitioning from High School to College, Preparing for College Life & Your Ultimate Career. There will be admission counselors available from several colleges such as University of Michigan-Ann Arbor University of Michigan-Dearborn, Eastern Michigan University Wayne State University, Kettering University and University of Detroit.

Walk-in registrations are available, but the organizers ask that you register in advance and suggest that the student bring a copy of his or her high school transcript.

For information or reservations, send an e-mail to esquires@annarboralphas.org or contact Matthew Coats – Theta Zeta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, C/O: ELMP – P.O. Box 130044 – Ann Arbor, MI 48113 – matthew.mm.coats@gmail.com

It’s been years since I covered government issues, and my experience with that at The Monroe Evening News was limited to the communities of Bedford Township, Whiteford Township, Luna Pier and Erie Township.

Only one state lawmaker even knows who I am enough to say “Hi, Paula!” when we cross paths at community events. I’ve met Gov. Jennifer Granholm and a handful of other state officials, but they have no reason to remember me. Some of them probably thought I was a secretary when they stopped by the newsroom to ask for another reporter or editor.

So my opinion on the state budget mess has absolutely no leverage with anyone who can do anything about it.

I know that a lot of groups also are campaigning and appealing for this or that program, service or agency and all that chatter is becoming just a bunch of static as the lawmakers huddle for their negotiations.

But my wish list is: Save the Michigan Promise Grant for the college students.

My family doesn’t benefit from that money. The rules were rewritten with the class of 2007. My daughter, under the previous incarnation of the program, would have been given $1,000 toward her college expenses out-of-state as compared to the $2,500 that went to in-state schools. Under Michigan Promise Grant rules starting with the class of 2007, my daughter got NOTHING by attending college in Indiana. In fact the rules were changed only six months before her graduation date – at which point many students in her class had finished college tours and applications and were waiting for acceptance letters.

So I’m already ticked off about a broken promise to my daughter. She was one of the students who was told in middle school as this program got phased in that she would get money for college if she met all the requirements. And the class of 2006 did have a partial grant for out-of-state schooling.

But you’ve heard me rant about that situation before.

So why do I want to save the Michigan Promise Grant?

Answer: Where do you expect Michigan families to make up that money?

I’ve read some chatter that these were middle class students who would have gone to college anyway, and otherwise had the means to pay for their education.

But those who follow that line of thinking are not paying attention to that financial realities that today’s college families have to deal with.

Reality check: The recession eroded the financial investments that families would have used to pay for college out of their own funds. The recession also messed with the investment funds that the colleges and foundations use to come up with cash for their individual student awards.

Reality check: Today’s students are not in a situation where they can “work their way through college.” Specifically: Paid summer jobs / career internships that used to be a source of income have morphed to unpaid internships and in many cases have now become a “pay to play” situation. My daughter avoided paying an agency thousands of dollars to give her a guaranteed placement as a professional intern this past summer. However, it is a fact that this scenario exists and it is difficult to find a placement out of those networks. My daughter ended up with an unpaid internship found on her own efforts, and her grandparents paid her college tuition so she could earn three credit hours as is recommended in those cases. So she still had “pay to play.”

Reality check: The scholarships that are designated for academic, community service and financial need are flooded with applications. Back in the 1980s, when I went to college, someone with my daughter’s credentials should have been able to earn and bundle up enough partial scholarships to have college practically paid for. But we have followed up on every available scholarship lead on behalf of my daughter, and still have to sign for some student loans because the scholarships are so competitive now.

Where would I find the money to fund Michigan Promise Grant?

I would be in favor of any of these ideas:

• Sales tax on pop. (And we do drink pop).
• Bottle returns expanded to bottled water, tea and other beverages because the unclaimed deposits do go somewhere. (And I generally detest this bottle return law).
• Sales tax on live entertainment (This would most certainly include the NASCAR tickets my family buys every year).

Maybe there are other ideas that would work.

But here’s my caveat: Any increased tax or special tax that would be designated for Michigan Promise Grant has to be earmarked for that fund.

Otherwise, we’ll end up in the situation we’ve got now – with a bunch of newly franchised voters mad as hell at broken promises from their state government.

This information expo is free and open to northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan high school students and their parents. There will be opportunities to learn about the admissions process, financial aid process and scholarship opportunities.

There will be representatives on site from University of Toledo, Monroe County Community College, Tiffin University, Adrian University and several other colleges in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

Speaker topics include ‘Making the Most of Your College Money,’ ‘Making the Transitition to College’ and ‘Importance of College.’

Fifth Third Bank is sponsoring a drawing for eight $1,000 scholarships to be held that night. Lourdes College and Bowling Green State University also will hold scholarship drawings at the event. Students must be present to win those awards.

For reservations for the event, go to mudhens.com/collegenight.

A note from your blogger: I recommend high school sophomores, juniors and seniors attend at least one college fair as they consider what colleges to attend or make formal visits to. My daughter was introduced to her college at a college information fair like this one.

The Michigan State University Library hosts a very extensive list of scholarships aimed at high school seniors and undergraduate students who live in Michigan, or plan to attend a Michigan college. You don’t have to fill out a profile form or read a bunch of advertisements to use this reference. You just scroll through the list to see which notices you or your student might be a good match for.

I sent my daughter, who is a junior in college, three leads from that list that were current and that she’d be eligible for.

I did run across some old links, but just backtrack the url to the hosting site and then search for what you are looking for. The database does have a “last updated” date stamp on each listing so you know how current the details are. Many of them were verified this summer.

Now keep in mind that the very first place to ask about scholarship money is at your high school office and at the financial aid office for the college where you are attending or plan to attend. Those people know where their students are getting money.

The scholarship databases are where you look after you’ve already checked those resources. I hate to say it, but it’s true: none of the scholarship money my daughter won came from a lead in a database. I still look in those lists from time to time, but I don’t get my hopes up.

But I really do like how extensive this MSU database is. Do check it out if you are a Michigan resident.