Within Reach Scholarship
Eligibility
▪ Candidates must have completed coursework at BMCC/CUNY Continuing Education and Workforce Development Literacy Program and received a High School Equivalency Diploma.
▪ Candidates must complete all CUNY or other college admission requirements. If candidates apply to CUNY, they must take the CUNY Assessment Tests. ▪ Candidates must fill out a FAFSA and TAP application.
▪ Candidates may be fully skills proficient or have outstanding developmental course needs based on their score on the CUNY Assessment Tests in reading, writing and math.
Application Process
▪ Candidates fill out WithinReach Scholarship Application Form and answer Essay Questions.
▪ Candidates submit one personal reference and one teacher reference. ▪ Candidates submit a copy of their FAFSA Award Letter (and TAP Award Letter if applicable) with the application.
▪ Candidates come in for an interview with member(s) of the WithinReach selection committee.
Scoring of Applications
- Personal Essay 35% (7 points)
- Teacher Reference 15% (3 points)
- Interview 50% (10 points)
Total 20 points
The FAFSA Award letter is used to determine the final award amount of the scholarship. It does not determine if a candidate gets the scholarship.
Selection Committee Process
▪ Members of the selection committee will be chosen from the field of adult education and/or be members of the WithinReach Board of Directors. Teachers of any of the applicants will be recused from the scoring of those applications. ▪ Committee members will interview each candidate.
▪ Each committee member will score each application according to a rubric. ▪ The top scoring applications will be awarded scholarships as monies allow for that year.
Financial Determination of Scholarship
Currently CUNY senior colleges (for in-state students) cost $4800 a year. Senior colleges are $6330 a year. The goal of the scholarship is to pay for any and all outstanding CUNY tuition so that the candidate incurs no debt burden. ▪ Monies awarded will equal the amount of CUNY college tuition minus the amount
granted in the FAFSA and TAP award letters. Loans and work study will not affect the scholarship. Only Pell and TAP grants will be considered. The full tuition per semester minus the Pell and TAP will be paid by WithinReach directly to the college.
▪ Awardees must apply for FAFSA and TAP every year, and submit FAFSA and TAP award letters to WithinReach annually. This will determine the amount of the scholarship. Awardees will submit a tuition bill every semester to WithinReach, and WithinReach will pay the outstanding tuition (minus Pell and Tap) in full.
▪ Any candidates who transfer to a non-CUNY school may get a maximum of $6000 a year for tuition.
▪ The minimum awarded as a scholarship will be $1000/year. If a candidate is in such financial need that their FAFSA award letter pays for college tuition completely, they may use the $1000 of the scholarship towards books and transportation.
Requirements to Continue Receiving Scholarship
▪ Scholarship awardees must enroll FT and take a minimum of 12 credits a semester (unless one of their courses is a required remedial course). They must enroll a minimum of 2 semesters a year. They must complete 24 credits a year. Awardees may choose to enroll in an extra summer semester and WithinReach will pay the tuition. Alternately, the summer semester could be one of the two semesters enrolled in per year.
▪ Awardees must maintain a 2.5 GPA and submit copies of academic transcripts every semester.
▪ Awardees must complete their AA within 3 years, or transfer in good standing to a senior college within that time-period. Awardees will have up to 5 years total to complete a BA/BS and 3 years total to complete an AA. If awardees transfer to a senior college before completing an AA, their “clock” continues and they have the remainder of their five-year timeframe to complete their degree.