America First Credit Union Awards Scholarships to High School Seniors

Riverdale, UTAH (Aug. 25, 2017) – Investing in continuing education for Utah’s youth, America First Credit Union partnered with Cottages of Hope and the Ogden School District’s GearUp program to award high school seniors with $500 scholarships to the college of their choice. The scholarships were given to well-deserving, low-to-moderate income students and minority populations, affording them the opportunity to achieve the dream of pursuing college.

The Ogden School District’s GearUp program is a seven-year grant focused on helping current seniors in the Ogden School District prepare for post-secondary educational opportunities. The program began when the students were in seventh grade and provided a variety of programming, including academic support, college readiness courses and tours of local college campuses. Cottages of Hope is a nonprofit organization, designed to provide meaningful, no-cost programs and services encouraging financial stability to low-income households and has been a key partner with the GearUp program since inception.

During the six years, students have been educated on the benefits of going to college, the importance of checking and savings accounts, as well as a variety of methods for saving for education. In addition, they have developed and achieved financial goals to establish budgets and to understand and build credit. Students who participated in the GearUp program, have a 3.0 GPA or higher, completed the FAFSA application and submitted an essay stating why they would be a good candidate. The scholarship recipients attended either Ben Lomond High School, Ogden High School or George Washington High School.

For more information, visit www.americafirst.com, America First Credit Union on Facebook, Twitter, @AmericaFirst on Instagram and Pinterest. 

As the largest credit union in the state of Utah, America First boasts a long-standing history and 78 years servicing members and has become one of the largest, most stable and most progressive credit unions in the country while remaining a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative financial institution. Today, America First has 123 locations and is the 11th largest credit union in assets in the United States with more than $8.9 billion and the sixth largest credit union in membership in America with more than 861,000 members.

Photo: Participants in the Cottages of Hope and the Ogden School District’s GearUp program receive $500 scholarships provided by America First Credit Union at Cottages of Hope on August 3, 2017 in Ogden, Utah.