ALPENA — The Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan (CFNEM) is accepting applications for its 2020 competitive scholarship season. Current and former graduates of high schools in the counties of Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Presque Isle are invited to apply.

Scholarship opportunities through CFNEM are based on a wide variety of criteria including the student’s high school, year of graduation, college they plan to attend, or their planned field of study. Many scholarships are for students who have already graduated from high school, and also for those planning to attend a certificate program or trade school. To be eligible, students must complete the application by the March 1 deadline.

Most of the scholarships must be applied for directly through the Community Foundation’s online platform. Students applying for awards will complete one online application, and will be considered for any scholarship for which they are eligible.

New scholarships, or those being awarded for the first time this year, include:

¯ Agnes and Russell Palmer Scholarship — for students who will study nursing, public health, medical doctor or veterinary fields of study at either Alpena Community College or Michigan State University;

¯ Annele Johnson Richards Scholarship — for graduating seniors of Alpena High School who will be studying in a STEM field;

¯ Dean Arbour Memorial Scholarship — for Alpena High School;

¯ Jean Sanborn Memorial Scholarship — for graduating seniors in Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency or Presque Isle Counties who plan to study music;

¯ Kenneth L. and Cecelia Murray Family Scholarship — for students graduating from high schools in Alpena or Presque Isle Counties who will study at a Michigan college or university.

The Community Foundation also holds scholarships that are available for students through CFNEM’s affiliate foundations: the Iosco County Community Foundation (iccf-online.org), the North Central Michigan Community Foundation (ncmcf.org), and the Straits Area Community Foundation (sacf.net). These counties include Cheboygan, Crawford, Ogemaw, Oscoda and Iosco. Affiliate scholarship applications are accessed through a separate online platform, available through each affiliate website.

While most of the awards are for one year of study, some of the available scholarships are multiple-year awards.

Scholarship applicants should visit the “Scholarships” section of the Community Foundation’s website at cfnem.org, as well as the affiliate websites.

Scholarships awarded during the 2020 competitive scholarship program are for the 2020-21 academic year and are paid directly to the educational institution the student has chosen. The application deadline for all CFNEM and its affiliate foundations’ scholarships is March 1.