Bridge Scholarship Program
Idea
Bridge Scholarship Program was initiated in 2002 by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation in response to a serious social problem concerning huge disproportion in higher education accessibility for young people from the rural areas and cities.
Young people from rural areas, notably state-owned farms, comprise a scant percent of university students. A lot of young people do not even take into consideration going to university because of the poor financial situation of a household. Higher education is not available for them. It is impossible for them to cross higher education threshold.
The goal of the Bridge Scholarship Program is to support young people in overcoming this exceptionally troublesome barrier and enable them to pursue higher education by awarding grants to first-year students enrolled in full-time master's courses. At the same time we assume that the prospect of receiving a grant upon enrollment in a college or university will provide an incentive for high school leavers meeting the criteria of our Program.
Addressees:
The Bridge Scholarship Program is targeted at first-year students enrolled in full-time master's studies, two cycle master’s studies at any state university in Poland coming from rural areas or small towns (up to 20 thousand citizens), with low family income per capita meeting the eligibility criteria specified in the Regulations.
Candidates can apply for a scholarship of the Bridge Scholarship Program organized by the Educational Enterprise Foundation in four segments:
- Secondary school graduates from families of former state farm workers submit their applications in the segment IA.
- Secondary school graduates who, while at school, participated in the third stage of subject olympiads - segment IB.
- Current or former wards of foster families or care and education centers especially of socializing type (state children's home) - segment IC.
- Secondary school graduates with a recommendation of one of the local non-governmental organizations cooperating with the Program - Segment II.
All information, regulations and documents necessary to apply for a scholarship, as well as links to organizations in which applications must be submitted, are available at websites of individual segments.
The scholarship amounts to PLN 5000 and is payable in 10 monthly instalments of PLN 500.
Benefactors and Administrator
The program is sponsored by the following renowned Benefactors:
- Polish-American Freedom Foundation (PAFF) – Author of the Program
- The National Bank of Poland (NBP),
- PZU Foundation
- BRE Bank Foundation
- Jan Kanty Steczkowski Foundation,
- Academy for Training and Competence
- Rural Development Foundation
- The coalition of local non-governmental organizations working in close cooperation with the Stefan Batory Foundation and the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland, local organizations and informal groups selected for the Program through “The Diploma of Dreams” competition.
The program is administrated by the Educational Enterprise Foundation (EEF) in Lodz, which manages the Program on the behalf of the Benefactors and co-operating organizations.
In the past nine editions of the Program 10,210 scholarships were awarded.
Basic Principles of the Program:
The program draws on the experience of the Educational Enterprise Foundation which specializes in student grant programs implementation, the experience of the Agricultural Property Agency and non-governmental organizations that administer high-school scholarship programs.
Cooperation between the Educational Enterprise Foundation and the benefactors is based on bilateral agreements. The cooperation provides for the implementation of the scholarship program, which is common for both parties. The Regulations on awarding and transferring scholarships to students define the rules and criteria of eligibility, selection principles and procedure as well as grants amount.
Decisions on grants awarding are made by independent Grant Committees appointed by EEF Management Board.
The Educational Enterprise Foundation cooperates with scholarship-holders, monitoring their academic progress and suggesting possible ways of receiving scholarship assistance in the course of studies as well as applying for student loans and loan guarantees.
Every year a booklet on this subject is published and sent to all grant holders in consecutive editions of the Program.
Every institution which notices the necessity of the educational advancement of young people from rural areas and small towns and wishes to join our initiatives is welcomed to the Program.
The Program is under the auspices of Rzeczpospolita daily paper.
Media Patrons: Academic Forum, Prospects
