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The Paula Kovarick Segalman Family Scholarship Fund
Deadline to apply: June 3, 2024 3:00 pm CT

The purpose of the scholarship fund is to provide financial assistance to students pursuing an accredited college degree or vocational certificate, and whose ability to cover the costs is severely compromised as a result of their family’s financial burden of ALS.

The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.

Applicants to The Paula Kovarick Segalman Family Scholarship Fund must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Be individuals who have had finances impacted due to having been diagnosed with ALS themselves, or a parent or guardian or immediate family member* (living or deceased) having been diagnosed with ALS.
  • Be high school seniors, high school graduates or current undergraduates.
  • Have a primary residence in West Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia , Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Delaware, or Northern Ohio.*
    *Eligible counties in Northern Ohio – Williams, Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Wood, Cuyahoga, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Crawford, Erie, Huron, Richland, Lorain, Ashland, Medina, Wayne, Holmes, Stark, Tuscarawas, Summit, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson, and Belmont.
  • Plan to enroll for a minimum of 6 credits per semester in undergraduate study at an accredited two– or four–year college, university or vocational–technical school in the United States (U.S.) for the entire upcoming academic year.
  • Be U.S. citizens.

Immediate family member refers to a person’s parent, spouse, sibling, parents’ spouse.

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive:

The authorized distribution for new awards is $5,000. Up to one award of $5,000 will be granted.

Awards are renewable up to three years or until a vocational school certificate, associate‘s degree or bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first, based on satisfactory academic performance (2.5 cumulative GPA or higher).

Notification

All applicants will be notified of their status in July. Potential recipients will be requested to submit a diagnosis verification form from a physician, an affidavit (if family member is deceased), or other approved documentation.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes payment in August.

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • Academic record
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Work experience
  • Statement of educational and career goals and objectives
  • Description of financial implications of having a family member with ALS
  • An online recommendation

Financial need will be considered and recipients must demonstrate need.  Applicants will be asked to upload their, or their parent/guardian’s, most recent tax return.

Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

As part of your application, you must upload the following documents:

  • A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Unofficial or online transcripts must display student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
  • A copy of the first two pages of the most recently filed IRS Form 1040 used for the Financial Information Page (Please black out SSN).

    NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.

One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than June 6, 2024 3:00 pm Central Time.

Your application is not complete unless all required documents are submitted electronically.

The ALS Association has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you the Scholarship America Student Hub!
You will receive an email upon registering with the Scholarship America Student Hub. Be sure to check your Junk and Spam folders if you do not receive email notification.

Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address provided below in the footer as safe senders in your email contact list.