Centura College Offers Scholarships through Imagine America

Centura College Offers Scholarships through Imagine America

For many students, the only way to get a fresh start in a new career is to receive help with the tuition and other expenses of a career college education. To make it easier for every student to receive a useful degree, Centura College has long participated in federal grant and loan programs, but now students will have the option of applying for Imagine America scholarships as well. These awards are both need-based and merit-based, and they will allow more people to further their education and improve their future job pool.

According to the Federal Reserve, American consumers currently face more than $150 billion in student loan debt. Climbing interest rates have contributed to this growing economic burden, which affects career college graduates more severely than any other post-secondary demographic. Even the President got involved, signing a memorandum to make federal loan terms more forgiving and affordable.

Loans may temporarily ease the financial burden of a post-secondary education, but to avoid the problem altogether, a variety of public and private institutions offer discounts and individual tuition assistance. Focusing on a quality education is more important than anything else, and these foundations exist to help more students do exactly that.

The Imagine America Foundation

Imagine America scholarships, along with the other financial aid and planning opportunities available at Centura College, are invaluable for students who have tight budgets. Because career college students earn degrees in order to advance their careers, it doesn’t make sense to devote all their new earnings to loan payments. The Imagine America Foundation (IAF) now faces challenges that didn’t exist when it was created in 1982. Still going strong after three decades, the IAF provides the following services to career college students:

• Scholarship programs
• Financial aid
• Sector research (sponsorship of socioeconomic research on career colleges and students)
• Faculty training sessions
• Career college promotion (to improve the job market by increasing awareness about the benefits of career colleges)

It’s never too early for high school students to research their scholarship and financial aid options. For those who plan to pursue post-secondary educations at a career college, including Centura College, Imagine America offers several ways to afford tuition costs. Requirements keep students ambitious and involved. For example, they must complete voluntary community service as seniors; otherwise they won’t meet scholarship guidelines after graduating.

Other guidelines include a grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.5, demonstration of financial need, and the ability to fully complete college and receive a degree. Imagine America assesses this in a variety of ways, but students can increase their odds of qualifying by taking their high school education seriously. Extracurricular activities are enriching and productive, but when they relate to the student’s chosen career field — for example, if an aspiring carpenter enters amateur woodworking contests — that student will have a head start at turning their post-secondary education into a successful career.

The Adult Skills Education Program (ASEP) is Imagine America’s scholarship program for adult students. Now that Centura College is one of the foundation’s participating colleges, students at each of its eight campuses can apply for ASEP funding. Qualifications include completion of a competency test, which is called the Educational Success Potential Assessment.

Career College Benefits

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) keeps track of the career and technical education sector (CTE), focusing on economic changes and career outcomes among graduates who receive post-secondary career training. Their database includes high school transcripts, enrollment data, faculty and student surveys, labor market studies, and a few other key resources. According to NCES labor force statistics, the following was true of Americans who were enrolled in post-secondary school six years earlier:

• 8.2 percent had an associate’s degree, and 84.4 percent of them had jobs
• 28.4 percent had a bachelor’s degree, with a 87.5 percent employment rate
• Of career college graduates, 86 percent were employed
• 74.5 percent of career college graduates had jobs in their chosen field
• Only 52.8 percent of academic college graduates had relevant jobs

Students who received bachelor’s degrees from career colleges enjoyed the highest rates of employment in their chosen fields. Six years after college, 76.2 percent had jobs that were directly related to their post-secondary major. This suggests that bachelor’s degrees from career colleges yield the highest return on investment, at least as far as relevant skills and job satisfaction are concerned.

Career college students acquire practical skills that are essential in today’s most lucrative career fields, and that’s possible because of a variety of financial aid options. Fortunately, these options continue to expand, making career success even more accessible. By focusing on a specific career throughout their post-secondary education, students increase their chances of landing a job in that field. IAF scholarships allow more students to do that, including future and current Centura College students who need help financing their education.

Contact us for more information about Financial Aid (for those who qualify), Scholarships and Military Education Benefits or to speak with an admissions representative and apply for admission, contact Centura College today by visiting our Website.  You can also learn more about Centura College at our Consumer Information Disclosure page, Your right to know.

[box type=”info”]DISCLAIMER – Centura College makes no claim, warranty or guarantee as to actual employability or earning potential to current, past or future students and graduates of any career training program we offer.  The Centura College website is published for informational purposes only. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained within; however, no warranty of accuracy is made. No contractual rights, either expressed or implied, are created by its content. The printed Centura College catalog remains the official publication of Centura College. The Centura College website links to other websites outside the centuracollege.edu domain. These links are provided as a convenience and do not constitute an endorsement. Centura College exercises no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, information that resides on servers outside the centuracollege.edu domain.[/box]