A Corporate Scholarship Search
Big business pours millions of dollars into the economy each year, and covers a range of products and services that seem to have no limit. These huge global corporations and companies make a regular habit of upholding their “corporate responsibility” by providing community support, emergency funding and services and underwriting hundreds of programs. This includes providing scholarship funds to thousands of students each year.
When a student is looking to corporations in their scholarship search it is best to remain specific and clear about career path and field of study, activities, interests, hobbies and affiliations. These issues provide the best foundation for a fruitful and successful scholarship search because they identify all of the areas where as student may be able to access prizes, scholarships, grants and funding.
Many large scholarship providers have a specific mission or goal to their line of business and so the scholarships are affiliated with that philosophy or mission. For example, the Rite Aid Corporation makes a scholarship available to its employees who show an interest in retail chain pharmacy. In this way a student interested in pharmacology, or in business management might be able to find some financial support from their employer.
Other larger scholarship providers are not serving the needs of their business, but the needs of the community and make awards based on a history of service or commitment such as the Roy Rogers fast food chain. The group requires an essay as a part of their application process and looks to those who focus on excellence in performance at work and in their community service.
There are also industry specific scholarships available for those interested in performing a corporate scholarship search. Everything from the advertising industry, the child care industry and ice cream industry makes corporate scholarships available both to their employees as well as to the general public. It will take some creative thinking on the part of the student to locate some corporate opportunities simply because they may not be as “clear cut” or obvious as some other scholarship search opportunities.
For example, the International Association of Ice Cream Vendors makes a five thousand dollar scholarship available to an enrolled college student who worked in the ice cream industry in any way during the award year. The various funds that contribute to the scholarships awarded demonstrate a wide range of innovation, creativity and unique thinking. An applicant is required to submit an essay about their worthiness, and it would be a good idea for them to read through the brief biographies of the individuals whose work created the funds. Clearly a student who spent the summer at the local “scoop shop” could do quite well in applying for these funds, and yet they would not have known about them without a thorough and specific scholarship search.