Application Deadline April 1

The Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy Scholars program in Arizona and Indiana is accepting applications for the sixth Nina Scholar cohort. In 2001 the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust established the Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy Scholars program to open doors of opportunity and education for men and women who do not qualify for traditional college financial aid.

Each year the Trust sponsors a new cohort of eight students at Arizona State University, 15 students at Maricopa Community Colleges, five students at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and 12 students at Ivy Tech Community College-Central Indiana. At the close of 2005, more than 200 men and women had participated in the Nina Scholars program.

The application deadline is April 1, 2006. For further information about applying to the Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy Scholars program, contact: Cory Gonzales at ASU, 480-727-6561; Jennifer Steele at Maricopa Community Colleges, 480-731-8619; Charles Johnson at IUPUI, 317-278-7878; or Ann Heiny at Ivy Tech Community College, 317-921-4617. For the common Scholar application and program overview in .pdf format, please visit our Nina Scholars webpage.

"Education was important to Nina Mason Pulliam. She believed that education is a crucial tool to self-sufficiency and personal fulfillment," said Trustee Nancy M. Russell. "The Nina Scholars program furthers the Trust's mission of helping people in need. We are pleased that many of our Scholars are referred to the program through organizations that have received grants from the Trust," Russell added.

The Nina Scholars program assists three groups of nontraditional students whom mainstream scholarship programs overlook. Nina Scholars are 25 years or older with dependents, college-age students and adults with physical disabilities, or college-age youth who have been reared in the child-welfare system and are self-supporting.

Along with a full scholarship, which includes tuition, fees and books, each Nina Scholar receives a $2,500 living allowance to assist with necessities, such as child care and transportation. Additionally, each school has a Nina Scholars coordinator to assist the students and coordinate special programs and activities-all designed to help each student be successful.

"We so appreciate the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust's commitment to establishing a long-term scholarship program that provides these students the key ingredients they need to succeed," said Jennifer Steele, MCC Nina Scholars program director. "With financial obstacles removed and a safety net of guidance and mentoring in place, these students will have the opportunity of a lifetime to prepare for a career and achieve goals they perhaps thought were impossible."

"Our Scholars are supportive of each other. We meet regularly, in an open forum, where the Scholars discuss classroom challenges, celebrate academic successes, and, most importantly, provide a support network to each other. Overall, our Scholars have become a family," said Charles Johnson, IUPUI Nina Scholars program coordinator.

"As the Nina Scholars are successful, their stories of achievement inspire other students and family members to seek higher education. We have already seen this happen within a number of our Scholar families; sisters, brothers and mothers who have returned to classes because of a Nina Scholar in the family," said Cory Gonzales, Nina Scholar coordinator at ASU.

"This is an outstanding program that far surpasses a simple monetary gift. With the comprehensive support offered by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, the Scholars will have a far smoother path through college," Ann Heiny, Nina Scholars program manager at Ivy Tech concluded.