BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Almost 200 student members of the $1.1 billion Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union will receive, together, almost $300,000 in financial aid from the CU's "best and brightest" financial aid awards program.
Altogether 191 students received awards worth $296,000. All recipients must be members of the credit union's roughly 9,000 student members.
Polish and Slavic said 81 recent high-school graduates received either $2,000 or $1,000 each to continue their education. The CU also awarded 110 scholarships to students already enrolled in college. Ten students each received $5,000 scholarships; 50 students were each awarded $2,000 scholarships; and the remaining 50 were each granted $1,000 scholarships.
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High-school candidates were evaluated on their academic records and commitment to community service. College students were also evaluated on their participation in extracurricular activities, essays and teacher references.
"We regard this essential program as one of our most important initiatives supporting the Polish-American community," said Krzysztof Matyszczyk, Chairman of the Board of the PSFCU. "These young people are the true future of our community, and we're extremely proud to be able to give them a helpful start in reaching their goals. I'm confident that these wonderful students will always retain the feeling of pride in their roots."
This marks the sixth year the PSFCU has singled out "the best & brightest" Polish-American students in the tri-state area through its scholarship program, the CU said. Since the program's inception, the credit union has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to its young members to help defray the cost of higher education.
"This really is an unprecedented program being put on by a credit union. It's an incredibly satisfying endeavor that benefits so many of our members–today and years from now," said Bogdan Chmielewski, PSFCU's CEO. "Providing hope and opportunity for the next generation of members is what we're hoping to accomplish with this effort."
This year, one PSFCU scholarship recipient, Michal Ilewski, was also honored by the New York State Credit Union League (NYSCUL), which awarded him one of its 22 annual scholarships, a rare distinction coveted by 1,458 young New York credit union members.
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