Here are some web resources that you may find helpful.

This academic year, Venture students received scholarships from their college of choice, from GFWC Dublin/San Ramon Women's Club, San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs, San Ramon Valley Rotary, Joe Bagan's family and from Venture School. Congratulations to these scholarship recipients and thank you to our generous scholarship donors.

If you have at least a 3.3 grade point average, meet the Federal Pell Grant eligibility criteria, demonstrate leadership skills, a high school senior enrolling in an accredited college or university and are African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander or Hispanic, you are eligible to apply for the Gates Millennium Scholars program.  Go to http://www.gmsp.org for a scholarship application which is due January 11, 2010.

BURGER KING® Scholars Program criteria.
Applicant must be a high school senior who :
Maintains a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher
Works part-time for a minimum of 10 hours per week or 40 weeks per year
Be actively involved in community service activities
Demonstrates financial need (1040 form required)
Plans to enroll in an accredited two/or four-year college, university, or vocational/technical school by Fall of the application year.
Applications are available online Sept. 14, 2009 – Feb. 1, 2010.

CAC California Collectors Educational Scholarship Foundation offers three awards ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 to high school seniors attending college, university or vocational school.  Go to www.cacesf.org for an application which is due February 1, 2010.

KFC Colonel's Scholars award high school seniors up to $20,000 for tuition, fees, textbooks, room and board.  Online scholarship applications are available from December 1, 2009 to February 10, 2010 at http://www.kfcsholars.org

If you are a college-bound senior, display leadership skills on the sports field, have a minimum gpa of 3.0, come see Marsha for the Bay Are All-Star Scholarship Team Program application.  Application is due February 12th.

Mahatma Rice Scholarship Program offers five $2000 cash awards to college-bound high school seniors living in the San Francisco/San Jose Area.  Go to http://www.mahatmarice.com/scholarship for an application.  They are dues February 16, 2010.

Heald's College offers up to $500,000 in high school scholarships. Students graduating Spring 09 and planning to apply to Heald College can submit an application for these scholarships which are due May 9th, 2009. Call 1-877-99-Heald for more information.

www.fastweb.com is a free service. Their database consists of over 600,000 scholarships. Students register on-line and answer a series of questions about themselves. Fastweb will fill the students’ account with scholarships based on the answers students have given on the questionnaire. In addition, there is a school search and users can download 500 college applications.

Scholarshiphelp.org shares very helpful information with those who are applying for scholarships.

Scholarships.com is a free college scholarship search and gives an abundance of financial aid and loan information to help pay for college.

www.collegescholarships.org/fortune500.htm will link you to scholarship opportunities given by the Fortune 500 companies.

A scholarship service for Hispanic students can be found at http://www.scholarshipsforhispanics.org. Register on-line to receive a free and valuable resource.

Gates Millennium Scholars is a scholarship funded by Bill and Melinda Gates. Nomination materials may be downloaded from this website. Qualifications are listed on the website, as well.

DeVry University offers more than $5 million in scholarships. Get more information by e-mailing outreach@devry.edu.

www.ajm.org America’s Junior Miss has over $1.8 million in cash scholarships. Apply in the summer between sophomore and junior year.

Financial Aid

www.fafsa.ed.gov has an on-line application for students starting or continuing college. Each year, the application comes on-line in January and students and their parents have until the very early part of March to submit their application. From this information, the federal government determines the “Expected Family Contribution”. Any difference between the EFC and the college costs are met through federal or California grants, work-study, subsidized loans or unsubsidized loans. Every family with a college student should fill out the FAFSA. If the unexpected occurs (lay-offs, illnesses, deaths, etc.), the financial aid office will be able to help students who filled out the FAFSA for that academic year. If the FAFSA was not filled out, students will go without aid until the next filing cycle.

http://www.edfund.org/students/index.html This website is a help for college planning, financial aid planning, managing student loans and assists with job searches.

http://www.mapping-your-future.org is a guide for planning your career, helps you select schools, gives information about paying for schooling and is a link for guided tours at a variety of schools.

http://www.finaid.org Find information about loans, scholarships and military aid at this website.

Any Venture School student or parent may contact Marsha Mak, school counselor, at (925) 479-1215 or at mmak@srvusd.k12.ca.us for further explanation or support.