Pictured left to right, Kaitlyn Prewitt, Debbie Travis and Katelyn Burch. Prewitt and Burch are previous recipients of the Friends of the Clinton Township Senior Center College Scholarship Fund.
By: Dean Vaglia | Fraser-Clinton Chronicle | Published February 8, 2023
CLINTON TOWNSHIP — When today’s seniors look back on their youths, one thing many can look fondly upon are low college tuition rates.
According to Michigan State University, students in 1979 paid just under $25 per credit, while today’s students are charged more than $500.
A group of seniors in Clinton Township has chosen to help their community’s students on their way into the adult world. The Friends of the Clinton Township Senior Center College Scholarship Fund is a scholarship that has been paying it forward for almost 10 years.
“We started back in 2014 soliciting for the dollars for it, (and) it was first offered in 2015 to our Clinton Township high school seniors to apply for,” said Debbie Travis, assistant director of the Clinton Township Senior Adult Life Center.
Funding for the scholarship comes from donations to the senior center, typically raised during various events throughout the year. Travis’ goal is to raise at least $1,000 per year for one scholarship, though the program has been able to award scholarships to two students since 2016.
Scholarship applications are available through high school counseling offices, by directly emailing Travis at d.travis@clintontownship-mi.gov or by visiting the senior center. The minimum requirements for application are Clinton Township residency, enrollment as a high school senior, at least 30 hours of documented community service completed during their junior and/or senior years, a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0, and plans to enroll in some kind of post-high-school education program (an accredited two- or four-year college, university, trade school or vocational school) full-time.
“The categories (judged) are your GPA, the rigor of the classes that you took, the recommendations of your leaders — in whatever capacity, be it at school or from some of your volunteer experience,” Travis said. “Definitely we need to see some logs of community service hours, and then there’s an essay.”
According to Travis, the essay can be delivered “as any kind of communication you can supply us with that answers the prompt.” Past applicants have applied with normal essays, songs, poems, visual arts and other formats.
“You don’t need to have an affinity for grammar, necessarily, to be able to make your point in the reaction to the prompt,” Travis said.
Applications and essays are brought before the judges, who are donors that have provided $100 or more for the scholarship. Judges are read the applications in a way to control for sex, race, gender and other identifying attributes of the applicants.
“She reads whoever recommended (the students) and does not tell us their names,” said Judy Freund, a former judge.
Travis says that fewer than 20 students usually apply for the scholarship each cycle and that scholarships funds are provided directly to the winning students.
“I’d say your odds of winning it, based on the amount of applicants, are very high,” Travis said.
More information about the scholarship can be found at clintontownship.com/301/College-Scholarship-Fund.
Clinton Township employees and their families are not eligible for the scholarship. All donations to the scholarship are given to the recipients and are tax-deductible. Scholarships are due to Travis by May 1, 2023.