Full-Tuition Scholarship Program will Award a Total of Ten Scholarships; Applications are Due December 31

Orchard Park, New York -- (SBWire) -- 10/20/2010 -- Bryant & Stratton College Online today announced that it is now accepting applications for its new Pay It Forward Scholarship program. Pay It Forward is a program that will award a total of ten full-tuition scholarships for online associate’s degree programs at Bryant & Stratton College, as well as five $5,000 scholarships to the remaining finalists. The program recognizes and rewards recipients who are not only interested in improving their lives with education, but who also want to “pay it forward” to someone else. Scholarship recipients will be able to award their second scholarship to a friend, family member, colleague or even a community organization, which could then award the scholarship to a deserving individual.

“We want to recognize people who are helping others, but may not take the time to help themselves. This program gives people the chance to improve their own life, as well as someone else’s through education, without having to worry about the cost,” said Scott Traylor, Associate Campus Director for Online Education at Bryant & Stratton College. “As a school, Bryant & Stratton College is committed to giving back to the communities we serve, so it is only natural to offer a scholarship that shares that same spirit.”

To apply for a Pay It Forward Scholarship, applicants must complete a three-step process.

• Step One
Applicants must fill out a short application at http://www.PayItForwardScholarship.com, with their contact information and the name of the online associate’s degree program at Bryant & Stratton College that they would like to pursue.

• Step Two
Applicants must submit a short essay (200-500 words) describing why they deserve the scholarship. The essay should touch upon the good works the applicant has done for others and how they live the “pay it forward” lifestyle. In the essay, applicants can also describe whom they would “pay it forward” to with the second full-tuition scholarship. The application and essay must be submitted by December 31, 2010.

• Step Three
Following the deadline on December 31, 2010, Bryant & Stratton College Online will select ten Pay It Forward Scholarship finalists from the submitted applications. Videos will be created for each finalist where they will explain why they should be chosen for a Pay It Forward Scholarship. The videos will then be posted online at http://www.PayItForwardScholarship.com for voting. The five finalists who get the most votes for their video will receive a full-tuition scholarship for an online associate’s degree program at Bryant & Stratton College, as well as a second full-tuition scholarship to award to someone else. The remaining five finalists will receive a $5,000 scholarship to attend Bryant & Stratton College Online. All scholarship recipients will be announced in spring 2011.

“This is a very unique and exciting program,” continued Traylor. “We look forward to hearing stories from people on how they’ve helped others and how they want to ‘pay forward’ a scholarship. From a daughter who wants her mother to receive a Pay It Forward Scholarship so she can get the degree she’s always wanted, or someone who decides to award a scholarship to their best friend so they can back go to school together, the options are numerous, but the result will be the same – more people getting the education they deserve.”

To be eligible, Pay It Forward Scholarship applicants must meet all current Bryant & Stratton College scholarship and enrollment requirements. The complete rules and regulations can be reviewed at http://online.bryantstratton.edu/pay-it-forward/rules/.

On Wednesday, October 13, 2010, Doreen Justinger, Vice President of Online Education at Bryant & Stratton College, will kick off the Pay It Forward Scholarship program on ‘The Balancing Act’ airing on Lifetime Television. To learn more about Pay It Forward and to see a video describing how it all works, visit http://www.PayItForwardScholarship.com and for more information about Bryant & Stratton College Online go to www.bryantstratton.edu/online/.

About Bryant & Stratton College Online
Bryant & Stratton College is one of the nation’s pioneers in career education and is the premier provider of online associate’s degrees. Bryant & Stratton College offers accredited education that upgrades student capabilities and maximizes their marketability. For more than 150 years, Bryant & Stratton College has helped students gain the career skills they need to succeed in the workplace. Currently, Bryant & Stratton College Online offers four online bachelor’s degree programs, eleven online associate’s degree programs and ten online certificate programs in a variety of fields including business, criminal justice, financial services, healthcare, human resources and information technology. Some online programs are not yet available in all states. Bryant & Stratton College is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Bryant & Stratton College also offers flexible scheduling at its 17 campuses located in four states: New York, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. For more information about Bryant & Stratton College and its online degrees, visit http://www.bryantstratton.edu/online/.

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