Mar 12, 2004

FIRST Scholarship ProgramSource: FIRST

FIRST announces this year that it will be offering 25 scholarships geared towards supporting students who have career goals in specific areas of the floriculture industry, including production, research, business, marketing and public gardens.

FIRST is a nonprofit organization with over 40 years of experience serving the floriculture industry. FIRST supports floriculture scholarships and research across the United States and Canada. According to its Web site, the FIRST scholarships encourage horticulture students to continue family businesses and to join horticulture firms as growers and innovators. Scholarships are offered to graduate, undergraduate and vocational students who have a major or minor in horticulture or a related field and those who maintain a 3.0 grade point average.

In 2003, the FIRST Scholarship Program awarded $20,000 in scholarships to 17 students studying horticulture throughout the United States. Each scholarship is named to recognize leaders and firms within the horticulture industry. Some of the scholarships are: the Ball Horticultural Company Scholarship, awarded to students pursuing a career in commercial floriculture; the Richard E. Barrett Scholarship, awarded to students pursuing a career in research and/or education; and the Harold Bettinger Memorial Scholarship, awarded to students with a major/minor in business or marketing with the intent to apply it to a horticulture-related field.

All scholarships are range from $500 to $2,000. Applications for this year’s scholarships must be submitted by May 1, 2004. Students may submit their applications, along with transcripts, letters of recommendation and other relevant materials to: Scholarship Applications, Floriculture Industry Research and Scholarship Trust (FIRST), P.O. Box 280, East Lansing, Mi. 48826-0280, or at www.firstinfloriculture.org/scholarships.htm.