No one likes getting a parking ticket and no one likes paying for them, either. However, if the money you paid for a parking violation was being used for a worthy cause, how would you feel? Would that make it less of an inconvenience or burden? If you have ever wondered where the money you pay the University of Massachusetts Boston for a parking ticket is going, well, guess what? The Department of Public Safety is sponsoring a scholarship that is funded by the revenues generated from parking tickets/fines.
UMass Boston is using the revenues from parking tickets to help its students through scholarships. When you pay a parking fine, you are helping someone get an education. Regardless of how you feel about those parking fines, one must admit that what UMass Boston is doing with the revenues from the parking fines is a good thing. The scholarship is available to students who have an interest in a career in public service. However, even though no definition was given for what the department deems public service, on the application, it stated that they are defining public service careers in a broad way.
UMass Boston is not the only school to use revenues from parking tickets to provide scholarships for students. Central Connecticut State University also uses the revenues from parking tickets to provide scholarships for students and to facilitate library services or acquisitions.
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be full-time, in-state undergraduate students with at least 12 credits completed at UMass Boston. They must be enrolled in 12 or more credits for the Spring 2017 semester and must be pursuing their first bachelor’s degree. Interested students must also complete a one-page application essay that discusses their current involvement in community service and their plans to pursue a career in public service. In addition, a resume with employment experience and community service, hobbies and memberships, and an unofficial transcript must be submitted with the application. A minimum GPA of 2.5 is required in order to qualify. Applicants must have their 2017/2018 FAFSA on file with the Office of Financial Aid Services. The scholarship will be awarded for the Fall 2017 semester.
Multiple scholarships of up to $5,000 are available. The amount awarded to each individual will be determined by the number of applicants and the scholarship’s selection committee. The deadline for the scholarship is April 24, 2017.
For further information, you can contact the Office of Merit Scholarships, located on the fourth floor of the Campus Center; or you can email [email protected].
The applications are available online at www.umb.edu/students/scholarships.
Department of Public Safety Scholarship
March 31, 2017