One of 310 students being interviewed for the AEF full tuition scholarship
For 68 years, the Armenian Educational Foundation has been providing financial assistance to Armenian students and educational institutions. One of AEF’s many programs is to provide full tuition scholarships for students attending public universities in Armenia and Artsakh. In 2007, the first year of the new scholarship program, AEF provided 21 scholarships, which has grown to 248 this year. Additionally, AEF supports 23 Syrian-Armenia students, paying 40% of their tuition and provides scholarships to 23 students preparing to be Teach for Armenia fellows.
“The success of this scholarship program is dependent on the generous support of numerous donors. We are very grateful to all those individuals who donate $1,000 per year to sponsor the full tuition for each student,” stated AEF President Hermineh Pakhanians.
AEF’s Yerevan office accepted 689 qualified scholarship applications out of 1400 filed. The information in each of the 689 applications were entered into a scholarship computer matrix to rank scholarship candidates, with points given for various criteria, such as, financial need, single parent, multi-children families, from villages, parents’ participation in Artsakh war, military service, volunteer work, academic achievements, etc. The top 310 students, as determined by the computer model, were invited for personal interviews. After 11 days of interviews, the Scholarship Committee selected 139 new students to receive full tuition scholarships in fall 2018. Additionally, AEF will pay the full tuition of the 109 current scholarship recipients.
Several AEF members from Los Angeles participated on the interview panel. “It was a very rewarding, yet very difficult and emotional experience. I wish we had enough funds to grant all students a scholarship.” stated Aida Yeghiazarian, AEF past president.
Once the scholarship recipients are selected, AEF wire-transfers the tuition directly to the university on behalf of the student. One of the requirements to continue receiving the AEF scholarship is to continue receiving good grades, volunteer and provide community service. On September 24, 2018, AEF will host a reception in Yerevan with members and sponsors all scholarship recipients and recent graduates.
Since 2014, AEF has awarded over $1Millon in scholarships to deserving students in the United States, Lebanon and Armenia. For more information about AEF or to sponsor a scholarship, please contact the AEF office at 818-242-4154 or email aef@aefweb.org.
Source: Asbarez
Link: AEF Awards Scholarships in Armenia & Artsakh