Other Financial Aid Resources
Scholarship
Foundation of St. Louis Loan
Qualification/ Description: Applicants for this interest free loan must be U.S.
citizens or posses an Alien Registration Card, be a permanent resident of St.
Louis City, St. Louis County, Franklin County, Jefferson County or St. Charles
County for at least two year prior to the date of application and plan to enroll
in or be currently enrolled in a degree program. Awards are granted on the basis
of financial need, character and a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average.
Maximum Academic Year Amount: $3,000
Apply To: Send a self-addressed stamped, business size envelope to the Scholarship
Foundation, 8215 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO 63117. Applications are available
between January 1 and April 15.
Emergency Loan For Optometry Students
Qualification/ Description: Full-time currently enrolled Optometry student; INTEREST:
fixed at 12%
Maximum Academic Year Amount: $ 1,500
Apply To: Manager of Student and Special Services
Nebraska State Agreement
Currently, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, College of Optometry has a State
Agreement for one resident of Nebraska; however, there is a floating seat sometime
available for a second student here. The award recipient receives (2005 dollars)
$11,750/yr. If more than one Nebraska resident is selected for admission the
award is determined based on a combination of grade point average, admission
test scores, and interview evaluations. To qualify for consideration an applicant
must be certified as bona fide Nebraska resident. For resident certification,
contact Dr. Donal Burns, University of Nebraska, 3835 Holdrege, Lincoln, NE 68583,
402-472-7115. [Please note the correct spelling of Dr. Burns’ first name
contains only one “D”.]
Kansas State Agreement
Currently, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, College of Optometry has a State
Reciprocal Agreement for five residents of Kansas. This agreement permits the
College of Optometry to admit up to five Kansas residents in the entering class
to receive the award. The award recipients are charged the equivalent of Missouri
resident educational fees. If more than five Kansas residents are selected for
admission the awards are determined based on a combination of grade point average,
admission test scores, and interview evaluations. To qualify for consideration
an applicant must be certified as bona fide Kansas resident. For Kansas resident
certification, contact the Kansas Board of Regents by mail at Optometry Program,
700 S.W. Harrision, Suite 1410, Topeka, KS 66603-7360 or telephone at (785) 296-3517.
Other State Resources
There are several other states that offer additional resources for optometry
students, or to practicing optometrists in their states. You need to contact
your state of residence to see if they offer any assistance. Some with whom we’ve
worked, Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa and Kentucky. Of these, IA and KY sometimes
offer loan forgiveness to alumni returning home to practice, when state funding
allows.
Also, don’t forget to look into local resources, such as your local
Chamber of Commerce to see if it knows of any local scholarships for
those pursuing health related first professional degrees. Also, contact
your state optometric association to see if it offers any scholarships http://online-chamber.com.
This link will work for any national or international chamber if it is on-line.
Additionally, if you’d like to find a Chamber which is perhaps not yet
on-line, try http://www.uschamber.com/chambers/directory/default.htm
To check state associations: http://www.aoanet.org/x794.xml
To check a specific state for state assistance, use the URL formula of www.state.ST.us
to find your state, e.g. www.state.MO.us (the
state page may redirect you to the URL used, but this formula works for all US
States). Not all states are organized the same way, so try something like Department
of Education, or Department of Higher Education. Keep trying and be creative!
For every $5,000 you find in scholarships, you will reduce your monthly payment
(in 2005 dollars) by about $115 (estimated).
There are several internet websites with helpful information on available scholarships
including a financial aid information page sponsored by The National Association
of Student Financial Aid Administrators at www.finaid.org.
In recent years there has been a boom of internet scholarship search companies.
Some are free but many have up front fees or hidden charges that you agree to
when you authorize the search. The Federal Trade Commission advises students
to be cautious when using such services and to be especially wary of sites that
say they guarantee results of have information available nowhere else. Below
is a list of helpful websites:
UM-St. Louis
www.umsl.edu/services/finaid/
Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry
http://www.opted.org/
Federal Resources
www.ed.gov