PRCUA Scholarships

Scholarships for the 2024-2025 Academic Year


PURPOSE
Economic conditions in the United States and throughout the world, as well as an ever more competitive job market, have made the need for an undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree a virtual necessity for today’s student. At the same time, the higher costs of education pose a serious and challenging barrier to students and their families to bear. The PRCUA recognizes the necessity of assistance for students of the Polish American community and has developed several financial vehicles to aid in the pursuit of undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

The PRCUA acknowledges that continuing one’s education is important to get ahead in life.  We encourage everyone to take advantage of our scholarships.  Scholarships from the PRCUA are but one of its many member benefits.

PRCUA Education Scholarship

The PRCUA has established the Education Scholarship Program for eligible students. The PRCUA Education Scholarship will be awarded with the purpose of providing financial assistance to students to earn undergraduate, graduate or professional degrees. Scholarships totaling $25,000 will be awarded to students based on the number of applications submitted and are available to all students, even those who are not members of the PRCUA.

SCOPE
PRCUA will offer a number of scholarships that will be awarded once a year to applicants. Scholarships are renewable through the yearly application process. Students may apply each year. However, students may only receive three PRCUA Education Scholarships total during their lifetime. Only one application per student will be reviewed per year. Scholarships are specific to the school and educational program named in the application.

SCHOLARSHIP PERIOD
Applications must be received by June 1, 2024. Only applications postmarked by June 1st will be eligible. PRCUA will NOT accept late applications. Awards will be announced by August 15th.

AWARD PAYMENT
All awards will be made payable to the institution rather than to the individual. PRCUA accepts no responsibility for decreases of other grant or loan amounts due to the awarding of a PRCUA Education Scholarship to a student. Students are solely responsible for all aspects of their financial aid status and, thus, should be aware of the consequences of applying for a PRCUA Scholarship.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

  1. Application must be completed in its entirety. Do not submit resumes. Applications must be typed – any handwritten applications will be immediately disqualified.
  2. Official transcripts must be supplied to PRCUA by the university registrar. Speak to the registrar’s office for information on obtaining an official document. Transcript must be postmarked or emailed on or before June 1st.
  3. Letter of recommendation verifying student’s active celebration of Polish heritage signed by person referring student must be included. This letter cannot come from a family member. Unsigned letters will not be accepted.
  4. Letter of recommendation verifying student’s active community service signed by person referring student must be included. This letter cannot come from a family member. Unsigned letters will not be accepted.
  5. Applicants must have successfully completed their freshman year of undergraduate studies before the deadline for filing an application. An official transcript or other documentation from the applicant’s school must be sent directly by the educational institution to the PRCUA on or before the deadline of June 1st.
  6. Eligible applicants consist of sophomores, juniors, and seniors enrolled full-time in undergraduate study or those students enrolled in graduate or professional degree program. Full-time enrollment shall conform to those guidelines established by the federal financial aid program. (A minimum of twelve credit hours for day students or eight credit hours for evening students.) Part-time graduate or professional students are eligible.
  7. Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale or 4.0 or better on a 5.0 scale.
  8. All applicants must be either citizens of the United States or permanent residents.

AWARD PROCESS

  1. Selection of award recipients will be made by an appointed committee from the educational/business/legal community independent of the PRCUA. All decisions of the committee will be final.
  2. Selection criteria will include, but not be limited to, scholastic average, Polonia involvement, and community service.
  3. Recipients of PRCUA Education Scholarships who are members in good standing are also eligible to apply for PRCUA educational loans and the PRCUA Fraternal Scholarship.
  4. The PRCUA reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate this program at its discretion without prior notice. Such actions will not affect those awards currently in process.

Submitted applications become the property of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America Education Fund, Inc. All information submitted on the application is considered confidential and will not be duplicated and only discussed within the scholarship committee.

Applications and all required documents can be submitted by email to: scholarships@prcua.org. Official transcripts will be accepted by email if they are sent via encrypted email directly from the educational institution.

Mailed documents should be sent to:
Polish Roman Catholic Union of America
Attn: Scholarships
984 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60642-4101


2024-2025 PRCUA Education Scholarship Application


PRCUA Fraternal Scholarship

PURPOSE
The PRCUA has established the PRCUA Fraternal Scholarship for eligible PRCUA members. Scholarships will be awarded with the purpose of providing financial assistance to students to earn undergraduate, graduate or professional degrees. Fraternal Scholarships totaling $25,000 will be awarded.

SCOPE
PRCUA will offer a number of scholarships that will be awarded once a year to applicants. Scholarships are renewable through the yearly application process. Students may apply each year. However, students may only receive three PRCUA Fraternal Scholarships total during their lifetime. Only one application per student will be reviewed per year. Scholarships are specific to the school and educational program named in the application.

SCHOLARSHIP PERIOD
Applications must be received by June 1, 2024. Only applications postmarked by June 1st will be eligible. PRCUA will NOT accept late applications. Awards will be announced by August 15th.

AWARD PAYMENT
All awards will be made payable to the institution rather than to the individual. PRCUA accepts no responsibility for decreases of other grant or loan amounts due to the awarding of a PRCUA Fraternal Scholarship to a student. Students are solely responsible for all aspects of their financial aid status and, thus, should be aware of the consequences of applying for a PRCUA scholarship.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

  1. Applicants must be a member of the PRCUA, in good standing, for a minimum of five years, and have a minimum of $5,000 (subject to change) of whole life insurance. (Annuity membership does not qualify.)
  2. If the member does not meet the five year minimum at the time of application, they may also meet one of the two following standings: three years of membership along with an additional $25,000 in life insurance, or four years of membership along with an additional $15,000 in life insurance. All qualified members must also be in good standing.
  3. Applicants must have successfully completed their freshman year of undergraduate studies before the deadline for filing an application. An unopened, official transcript from the applicant’s school must be sent directly by the educational institution to the PRCUA on or before the deadline of June 1st.
  4. Eligible applicants consist of sophomores, juniors, and seniors enrolled full-time in undergraduate study or those students enrolled in graduate or professional degree programs. Full-time enrollment shall conform to those guidelines established by the federal financial aid program. (A minimum of twelve credit hours for day students or eight credit hours for evening students.) Part-time graduate or professional students are eligible.
  5. Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale or 4.0 or better on a 5.0 scale.
  6. Applicants must keep their insurance policies in effect and in good standing for a minimum of five years immediately following receipt of the last eligible grant payment.
  7. All applicants must be either citizens of the United States or permanent residents.
  8. All applicants must conform with the requirements listed on the application. Applications and all required documents can be submitted by email to: scholarships@prcua.org. Official transcripts will be accepted by email if they are sent via encrypted email directly from the educational institution.

AWARD PROCESS

  1. Selection of award recipients will be made by an appointed committee from the educational/business/legal community independent of the PRCUA. All decisions of the committee will be final.
  2. Selection criteria will include, but not be limited to, educational performance, past accomplishments, long range career goals, and extracurricular activities. Judging will be based upon the completed application information. It is the position of PRCUA that the best student is a well-rounded student.
  3. Recipients of PRCUA scholarships are eligible to apply for PRCUA educational loans.
  4. All applications will be anonymous. Applications must be typed – any handwritten applications will be immediately disqualified. The applicant’s anonymity will be ensured by the use of application numbers. Once the application is received, it will be stamped with an application number and the front page containing all of the applicant’s personal information will be removed and placed into a corresponding file. The committee judges will then receive the remaining pages which will contain only the application number.
  5. The PRCUA reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate this program at its discretion without prior notice. Such actions will not affect those awards currently in process.

Submitted applications become the property of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America. All information submitted on the application is considered confidential and will not be duplicated and only discussed within the scholarship committee.

Applications and all required documents can be submitted by email to: scholarships@prcua.org. Official transcripts will be accepted by email if they are sent via encrypted email directly from the educational institution.

Mailed documents should be sent to:
Polish Roman Catholic Union of America
Attn: Scholarships
984 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60642-4101


2024-2025 PRCUA Fraternal Scholarship Application