STARS Scholarship (Council Bluffs Schools Foundation)

The STARS Scholarship, an initiative of the Iowa West Foundation, is focused on breaking barriers to higher education for PARENTS in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and is presented as a program of the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation with its application hosted on cbsf.org. The program provides scholars with financial assistance, personalized career planning, and tailored guidance. The eligibility screening asks whether the applicant is a parent, lives in Pottawattamie County, is or would like to be pursuing a second credential, and is eligible for a Pell Grant or has income qualifying for public assistance. Scholar testimonials describe STARS covering child-care and other barriers that would otherwise prevent full-time enrolment — one 2016-2019 scholar states she could not have attended classes full time without it, and a 2014-2018 scholar completed both an associate's and a bachelor's degree on the program. The scholarship is funded by the Iowa West Foundation and administered through the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation, so an applicant deals with CBSF.

Submit an inquiry through the STARS Scholarship page; the STARS application is an online form hosted on the Foundation's site. Current scholars use a separate disbursement form. Screening questions posed on the page: Are you a parent? Do you live in Pottawattamie County? Are you, or would you like to be, pursuing a second credential? Are you eligible for a Pell Grant, or does your income qualify you for public assistance? No deadline is published.