2011 Tourism Cares Academic Scholarship Program

Note: The intended 2012 Academic Scholarship application deadline is Monday, April 9, 2012 at 5 pm Eastern time. We expect the 2012 Academic Scholarship Program information and on-line only application to be available Friday, February 3, 2012 so we encourage you to check back then. Please only use the below information as a reference.

All academic scholarship recipients are invited to the Tourism Cares Experience the Industry Student Program at NTA’s Convention. Students shadow tourism industry mentors during business appointments and take advantage of networking and career building opportunities.

TIMELINE:

Scholarship On-line Application Availability: Now Closed

Scholarship On-line Application Deadline: Friday, April 1, 2011, 5:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time

Scholarship Award Notification: late May 2011

Scholarship Award Distribution: during summer 2011

Important Message for Graduate Level Students: If you are doing graduate research, you may be eligible for both the Graduate Scholarships, which are part of the Undergraduate or Graduate Scholarship Application, as well as the Graduate Research Scholarship Application. However, you may apply for only one, so you will need to decide which one you prefer to submit.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND REQUIRED ITEMS
Depending on the scholarship(s) the on-line application shows you to be eligible for, there will be common Required Items or Essays, such as those listed below that you will need to upload to your on-line application, along with Scholarship-Specific Required Items or Essays (if applicable), which you have a choice as to whether you wish to upload. If you wish to be considered for the greatest number of scholarships for which you are eligible, we advise you to submit the Scholarship-Specific Required Items and Essays as well.

    Typical Eligibility Criteria:

• citizens or permanent residents of the United States or Canada (primarily)

• enrolled in school fall semester

• full-time or part-time undergraduate or graduate students

• enrolled primarily in a travel-and-tourism-or hospitality-related program of study

• enrolled at a two-, three- (for Quebec), or four-year college or university in the United States or Canada (primarily)

• entering specified year of school in the fall of the calendar year of application

• have completed a certain number of minimum credit hours by the end of this semester or term (corresponding to your year in school)

• cumulative, or overall, 3.0 grade point average (GPA), or greater, on a 4.0 U. S. scale
  
  Typical Required Items (to be uploaded into on-line only application in Required Items or Essay section):

• official transcript (This is the only Required Item that does not need to be uploaded by the applicant into the on-line application. Please see special instructions below.)

• proof of citizenship or permanent residency

• evaluation form and letter of recommendation from a faculty member in your field of study

• evaluation form and letter of recommendation from an industry professional you have worked for; the industry must be related to your field of study

• resume

• essay

APPLICATION

Any information students provide to Tourism Cares as part of the application process will be kept confidential.

All applicants must be enrolled in school fall semester to be eligible to receive the scholarship award. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Official Transcript: Tourism Cares requires the student to request an official transcript be sent directly from the applicant’s school to Tourism Cares at 275 Turnpike Street, Suite 307, Canton, MA 02021, USA, Attention: Transcript. Only one copy of the transcript is required even if the student is applying for more than one scholarship. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the transcript arrives by the deadline date. It often takes up to 4 weeks for official transcripts to be sent, so please request your transcript as soon as you know you are applying.

**Important: If you are a first-semester graduate student, please be sure to have the school where you completed your undergraduate studies send your official transcript from your studies there.

SELECTION

Eligible academic scholarship applicants are reviewed and chosen by the Tourism Cares Academic Scholarship Selection Committee, which consists of travel, tourism, and hospitality educators and industry professionals. The committee's decisions are reported to the Tourism Cares Board of Directors.

UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

• Tourism Cares scholarship awards are merit-based.

• A student may win only one scholarship award from Tourism Cares per calendar year.

• Each undergraduate scholarship award can be used to cover expenses for tuition, books, and educational fees only.

• Each graduate scholarship award can be used to cover expenses for tuition, books, educational fees, and research-related expenses only.

• Checks in U.S. dollars are sent directly to the recipients’ school financial aid offices to be deposited directly into the students’ accounts to be applied to the fall semester.

**PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THE APPLICABLE INFORMATION BELOW CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ACCESS THE ON-LINE APPLICATION. IMPORTANT NOTE: We encourage you to take the time to carefully read and respond to all of the Scholarship-Specific Determination Questions that apply to you in the on-line application, so that any scholarships that you might be eligible for will display in the system.
 

To view the 2011 Academic Undergraduate or Graduate Scholarship Offerings Flyer, please click here.

To view the 2011 Undergraduate Scholarship Eligibility Criteria and Required Items, please click here.

To view the 2011 Graduate Scholarship Eligibility Criteria and Required Items, please click here. (Note: This does not include the Graduate Research Scholarships, which can be found directly below.)

To view the 2011 Graduate Research Scholarship Eligibility Criteria and Required Items, please click here.

To view the 2011 Undergraduate or Graduate Internship Eligibility Criteria and Required Items, please click here.