Prior Lake, MN – May 1, 2011, will mark the deadline for filing an application for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Endowed Scholarship at the University of Minnesota for the 2011-2012 school year. The SMSC Endowed Scholarship was established in 2008 through a $2.5 million gift from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community into a matching endowment fund, creating a $5 million endowment to provide scholarships for American Indian students.

“We encourage qualified graduating high school students who are planning to attend any of the University campuses to look into this scholarship. While preference is given to enrolled members of federally recognized tribes, students who qualify under the Indian Education Act are also eligible if they meet the other requirements,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.

The SMSC scholarship program is designed to recruit and retain talented American Indian students with demonstrated financial need to the University of Minnesota. The SMSC scholarship program is administered by the University's Office for Equity and Diversity. The primary goal of the SMSC scholarship program is to support incoming University of Minnesota freshmen and transfer students with demonstrated financial need.

A smaller number of scholarships may also be awarded to qualified newly-admitted graduate and professional students in specific disciplines. For undergraduates, scholarships are renewable for up to four years or until graduation (whichever comes first) contingent upon academic performance. For graduate and professional students, the length of funding is contingent upon academic performance, the school of enrollment, and degree program and will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Grades and financial need determine if the scholarship is renewed for the following school year for each student.

The SMSC Endowed Scholarship will celebrate a milestone this spring when their first graduate, Korina Barry (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), graduates from the U of M, Minneapolis campus with a Master’s degree in Social Work.  Korina is the first of the 29 students who have received the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Endowed Scholarship to graduate.

Scholarship recipients thus far have come from across the country and from a number of different tribes. They have come from as far as New York, Utah, and Colorado. Some of them are from Minnesota; some from Wisconsin. Several of the students are majoring in Medicine at both the Duluth and at the Twin Cities campuses. Other recipients have majors as diverse as Forensic Science, Biochemistry, and Dentistry to Music, Education, and Pre-engineering.

“In today’s society, an education is essential, especially for our Indian people. We need our young people to protect our tribal sovereignty,” said Chairman Crooks.

For each cycle applications materials received by March 1 are given preference but the final deadline is May 1. Applications postmarked after May 1, 2011 will not be accepted.

To be considered for an SMSC scholarship, students must meet the following criteria:

• Admission to one of the University's of Minnesota's five campuses (Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris, or Rochester) as a full-time undergraduate or graduate student.
• Enrollment or eligibility for enrollment in a federally-recognized tribe or students who qualify under the Indian Education Act
• Graduate and professional students must have an academic focus in one or more of the following areas: medicine, dentistry, or other health-related disciplines; public health; business administration/accounting; public policy or government administration; education; or law.
• Undergraduate scholarship recipients must maintain a minimum cumulative 2.5 grade point average for SMSC scholarships to be renewed after the first year.
• Graduate and professional scholarship recipients must maintain a cumulative 3.0 grade point average for renewal.

Scholarship recipients will be selected by the SMSC Selection Committee which is comprised of representatives from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community along with U of M staff. For more information about the SMSC scholarship program, please go to www.shakopeedakota.org/scholarships.html or email Rickey Hall, Assistant Vice President for Equity and Diversity at the U of M, at hallrl@umn.edu.