JEWISH FEDERATION ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Educational scholarship funds from grants administered by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago are available for Jewish college and graduate students. More than $500,000 each year is available for full-time students, predominantly those legally domiciled in the metropolitan Chicago area, who are identified as having promise for significant contributions in their chosen careers. Assistance is available primarily for those in need who are pursuing careers in the helping professions.

Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) processes academic scholarship applications from eligible students who have financial needs that cannot fully be met by other appropriate resources.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

The primary criteria for an award are career promise and financial need. Please review the following eligibility requirements before proceeding to the application instructions and forms.

1. Applicants must be Jewish

2. Applicants must meet one or both of the following criteria:
   1. Born and/or raised in either:
      Cook County, Chicago metropolitan area, or Northwest Indiana

      OR

   2. One continuous year of full-time employment in Cook County or Chicago metropolitan area prior to starting professional education.

      PLEASE NOTE: The Chicago metropolitan area includes Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties. Northwest Indiana includes Lake County.

3. Applicants must intend to remain in the Chicago metropolitan area after completing school

4. Applicants must be entering an accredited professional graduate education program on a full-time basis (school acceptance is not required at time of scholarship application)

5. Undergraduate applicants must be entering the junior or senior year of an accredited professional education program that will allow them to pursue employment in their chosen helping professions at a Bachelor's degree level

6. Applicants must demonstrate career promise in a helping profession as:
   
   • Medicine

   doctor physician's assistant dentist nurse pharmacist chiropractor veterinarian dental hygienist

   physical therapist occupational therapist optometrist audiologist speech therapist researcher geneticist

   • Education

   teacher journalist

   Jewish studies

   • Jewish Communal Service
   • The Rabbinate

   rabbi

   cantor

   • Social Service

   social worker psychologist

   therapist/counselor gerontologist

   • Performing and Fine Arts

   musician artist actor/actress photographer

   sculptor playwright poet

   • Healthcare / Public Health
   • Urban Affairs/Public Policy
   • Law
   • Technical/Sciences

   mathematician chemist biochemist computer scientist other sciences

   engineer biomedical engineer environmental engineer architect

   • Communications at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign only
   • Other (please check with JVS at (312) 673-3457 to verify "helping profession" eligibility before completing application)

7. Applicants must be available for a personal interview at Jewish Vocational Service between March 1 and April 20, 2008

   Questions - call (312) 673-3457

PLEASE NOTE THE APPLICATION DEADLINE

		The application deadline for the 2008-2009 academic year has passed. Application forms for the 2009-2010 academic year will be available in the fall with a deadline of February 15, 2009. For more information call (312) 673-3457 or e-mail jvsscholarship@jvschicago.org.
Additional information about financial assistance: For HIAS scholarships, click here. For the Jewish Federation Shirley Ehrlich Student Loan Program, click here. For college/graduate student scholarships, click here.