Alberta Blue Cross® is encouraging Indigenous young adults across the province to consider applying for its Indigenous scholarship program, which is now accepting applications.
The Alberta Blue Cross® Indigenous scholarship program offers 9 scholarships of $1,500 every year. The scholarships are awarded based on personal goals, financial need and community involvement. Of the 9 scholarships, 3 are granted to students entering post-secondary school directly after high school and 6 are reserved for students classified as mature by their post-secondary institutions.
“We’ve been privileged to support some incredibly deserving individuals in their education journeys through this program,” says Brian Geislinger, senior vice-president of Corporate Relations and Community Engagement with Alberta Blue Cross®. “We are thrilled to be continuing this program for 2024.”
As part of Alberta Blue Cross®’s commitment to wellness, the long-standing Indigenous scholarship program is intended to support not only the financial wellness of students, but the overall wellness of the communities they give back to. At the same time, the program is intended to help advance equitable access to post-secondary education for Indigenous young adults. Alberta Blue Cross® has been running the Indigenous scholarship program since the year 2000, and in that time, more than 100 scholarships have been awarded to Indigenous students. Funding for the program comes from Alberta Blue Cross®’s community foundation.
“In 2023 we received a record number of applications for our Indigenous scholarship program, and based on this demand we doubled the number of mature student awards provided annually through the program,” says Geislinger.
The deadline to apply is January 31, 2024. Scholarship recipients are selected by an external committee with expertise in academia and Indigenous education. Successful applicants will be contacted in early March.
More information about the scholarship program, including application forms for Indigenous students, can be found at https://www.community.ab.bluecross.ca/programs/indigenous-scholarships.php.
For more information, please contact Sharmin Hislop, director, Corporate Communications, Alberta Blue Cross®, at shislop@ab.bluecross.ca.
This media release was shared as a news story on:
- 630 CHED on Alberta Blue Cross® Indigenous scholarships program is now open.
- Stony Plain Reporter (print edition) on Alberta Blue Cross® Indigenous scholarship program is now open for applications.
