The CollegeInvest 529 Scholarship

Applications for the 2012-2013 school year will be accepted January 1 through July 31, 2012.

The CollegeInvest 529 Scholarship is designed to award scholarships to Colorado residents from low to middle income families who have planned for a higher education by saving through a CollegeInvest 529 College Savings Plan . This is a great opportunity for students or adults looking to go to college or vocational school for the first time, those planning to go back to school, or looking to change careers. Each eligible student will be awarded $2000 for the 2012-2013 school year.

To be eligible, an applicant must be a Colorado resident, be the owner or beneficiary of an eligible CollegeInvest 529 College Savings Account , have opened and maintained this CollegeInvest 529 College Savings Account for at least 2 years, complete and submit an online application, and substantiate an Expected Family Contribution (EFC ) of $15,000 or less. Students can re-apply each year they continue to meet the eligibility requirements and potentially receive a $2,000 scholarship for up to four years ($8,000 maximum).

An Application checklist to help you through the process:

Applications for the 2012-2013 school year will be accepted January 1 through July 31, 2012.

We’re going to require very specific information from you during the application process. Before starting, ensure that you have the following items available. You are NOT able to save and exit the form to complete at a later time.

• The name of the account owner of your CollegeInvest 529 college savings account.
• Your CollegeInvest 529 college savings account number.
• The date your CollegeInvest 529 college savings account was opened.
• From your Student Aid Report (SAR), the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) number (refer to your account at www.fafsa.gov for this number).
• A PDF copy of your SAR saved in the following sequence: SAR.lastname.firstname.
• To complete an application form you must acknowledge that you have carefully read and understand the CollegeInvest 529 Scholarship Program Description.

Do I qualify?

To be eligible an applicant must:

1)    Complete an online application after January 1, and prior to August 1, of each year.

2)    Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and have an EFC between $0 and $15,000 for the school year applicable to the scholarship year. (Note: Many factors determine a family’s EFC, but generally, a family of three, with one child in college, and a family income of up to $90,000 a year and $20,000 in their college savings account would have an EFC of $15,000 or less).

3)    Be a Colorado resident.

4)    Enroll in an accredited post-secondary institution (public and private college, university, trade or vocational school across the country) in undergraduate or graduate degree or certificate program.

5)    Attend school full-time (12 credits hours or more) at the time the Scholarship is awarded. If the awardee drops out of school or reduces credit hours below full-time status, they will not be eligible for additional/subsequent scholarships.

6)    Be the owner or beneficiary of an eligible CollegeInvest 529 college savings account. An eligible account must: 

a.   Be open at the time of the Scholarship application.

b.   Have been open and continuously maintained for a minimum of 2 years prior to July 1 of the year of the Scholarship award.

c.   Have a parent or legal guardian as the account owner and the applicant as the beneficiary.  The account owner and the applicant can be the same person.

7)    The Scholarship award is for one year only.  Students may reapply for each year they are enrolled in a post-secondary institution, and otherwise meet the eligibility requirements but may not receive more than $8,000 in total scholarships.

8)    Only one Scholarship per applicant per year, and no person can be an applicant and a beneficiary of more than one account.

9)    Employees of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, including CollegeInvest, and their children are not eligible for the Scholarship.

Questions for us:

Call: 800-478-5651
Email: scholarship@collegeinvest.org