Giannoulias congratulates Illinois students selected for Bright Start scholarships

January 8, 2009

Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced today that more than 280 Illinois students are 2008 Bright Start Scholarship recipients.

The students were selected by their colleges for scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $2,500, to be deposited in a Bright Start College Savings accounts.

“With the cost of college tuition skyrocketing, the Treasurer’s Office is working to help more students afford a quality education,” Giannoulias said. “I commend all of the recipients for working hard in their pursuit of higher education.”

Through the Illinois State Treasurer’s Bright Start Scholarship Program, Giannoulias will distribute $400,000 in scholarships to four-year public and private universities in Illinois each of the next seven years. Schools must have an undergraduate enrollment above 2,000 to qualify, and allotments will be calculated annually based on the school’s tuition, room and board.

Schools select recipients based on need. Up to 400 scholarships will be awarded annually for a total of nearly 3,000 through the life of the program.

No state funds or taxpayer money is used to fund or administer scholarships. The Bright Start program manager, OppenheimerFunds, agreed to provide $3.5 million in scholarships for Illinois students in a contract negotiated by Giannoulias in 2007.

Bright Start is a 529 college savings plan administered by the Treasurer’s Office. It was recently named one of the top five college savings programs in the country by Morningstar, Inc.