wfn.org | Students receive more than $7M in loans, scholarships

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 14, 2000 News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{064}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - United Methodist students attending academic and
theological institutions received more than $7 million in loans and
scholarships during 1999.

The United Methodist Office of Loans and Scholarships made more than $3
million in loans to 1,346 students and awarded more than $4 million in
scholarships to 3,346 students, said Angella Current, executive director.

The 1999 awards represent a significant increase from the $1.4 million
loaned in 1998, Current reported. The increase in loan dollars is part of
the scholarship and loan office's strategic plan for 2000-2004 to increase
the annual maximum amount students could borrow beginning January 1999.

"A review of our collections record for 1999 shows the office maintained (a)
less than one-tenth of 1 percent default rate and successfully collected
more than $1.9 million," Current said. 

The Office of Loans and Scholarships, which is part of the United Methodist
Board of Higher Education and Ministry, administers more than 70 scholarship
programs annually, including the Double Your Dollars for Scholars and others
funded by the United Methodist Foundation for Christian Higher Education.
Included last year was an additional $1 million for the Gift of Hope: 21st
Century Scholars awards given to students who have taken leadership roles in
their local congregations or campus ministries. This is another component of
the office's strategic plan to increase the number of unrestricted
scholarship dollars for United Methodist students.

The Gift of Hope: 21st Century Scholars awards is a four-year, $4 million
special program intended to provide $1,000 scholarship awards annually to
1,000 United Methodist students through the loans and scholarship office.

For more information, contact the Office of Loans and Scholarships, P.O. Box
340007, Nashville, TN 37203-0007; go online to
www.gbhem.org/gbhem/loans2.html; or call scholarships at (615) 340-7344 or
loans at (615) 340-7346. 
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United Methodist News Service
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