Bank of North Dakota offers new college assistance

The Bank of North Dakota has initialized a new scholarship program and a resource known as the College Planning Center.

The Real DEAL scholarship, worth $500, will be randomly awarded to eight high school seniors across the state of North Dakota. To be eligible, these seniors must be attending a North Dakota University in the fall.

Students must also have a minimum 2.5 GPA, be involved in their school or community and “be an upstanding citizen,” according to Wally Erhardt, the director of student loans of North Dakota for BND.

Erhardt said that BND has divided the state into eight regions, and one senior will be chosen from each region each month.

The selection will continue until March 2013. Erhardt said that each student who receives a scholarship will be honored in their hometown’s newspaper as well as in an event in their hometown.

In April 2013, the 48 students who received a $500 scholarship will be eligible to compete for a $3,000 scholarship.

The winner of the $3,000 scholarship will be chosen from the reviewed $500 scholarship applications. Students who do not win the larger scholarship still keep their original $500 scholarship.

“Bank of North Dakota is a strong supporter of higher education, so this is just one more way to help North Dakotans reach their education goals,” Erhardt said.

BND also has formed a new resource known as the College Planning Center. Any North Dakota resident can take advantage of CPC’s resources, be it parents, grandparents, students, or non-traditional students.

Erhard said that BND has been providing “going-to-college information” for 20 years and was able to form the College Planning Center after receiving a government grant.

The College Planning Center has a variety of resources, including information on starting a College SAVE account, scholarship opportunities, the college application process and more.

“The College Planning Center offers a reliable resource to answer the questions our state’s residents are asking about college, from cradle to career,” Erhardt said.

For more information about the Real DEAL scholarship or the College Planning Center, visit https://www.facebook.com/bndcollegeplanning.