It’s called JPMorgan’s Smart Start Louisiana Program.

It is a scholarship program established by JPMorgan Chase that provides monies for undergraduate tuition, books and supplies to qualified African-American Louisiana students who will attend colleges in their home state.

Deadline to apply is Friday, February 17th. Students wishing to apply can do so online at http://www.smartstartapp.com. Recipients will be announced in mid-May. To be eligible you must be a

Graduating senior from a Louisiana high school, is a Louisiana resident who plans to major in one of either business, communications, computer science, engineering, liberal arts or social science (life science majors are not eligible). Candidates must also have a minimum of a B average and minimum ACT score of 19. They must demonstrate academic achievement, financial need, motivation, flexibility, maturity, leadership, communication skills and the ability to balance numerous priorities.

The scholarship includes tuition for four years toward an undergraduate degree, while maintaining a 2.5 grade-point average for freshman year and a 3.0 thereafter; $500 per year for books and supplies; and support networks including mentors, peer advisors and Smart Start Program Management.

In January 2005, JPMorgan Chase disclosed that Bank One, which was bought out by JPMorgan Chase last year, was connected to banks that accepted thousands of slaves as loan collateral prior to the Civil War. The disclosure was made in response to a Chicago ordinance requiring companies doing business with the city to disclose whether they profited from slavery. Bank One officials, in a letter to the company’s employees, addressed the issue and announced the establishment of the Louisiana Smart Start Scholarship Program of $5million over five years.

Legal dependents of JPMorgan Chase employees are not eligible.Time running out on unemployment benefits for some

March 4 looms as the date that extended unemployment benefits for Louisiana residents ends. Ironically, it is also around that time that those who have filed for unemployment because Hurricanes Katrina and Rita left them jobless become eligible for the extension.

Unemployment benefits, which range from $10 to 4258 a week, are usually available for collection for up to 26 weeks. In November, Louisiana, struggling economically because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, qualified for federal assistance to provide another 13 weeks of unemployment benefits with Unemployed Louisiana residents living outside the state qualifying for another two weeks of benefits. That however may not happen. According to Marianne Sullivan, Louisiana’s assistant secretary of labor, the state’s insured unemployment rate is expected to drop below 5 percent, triggering an end to the extended benefits. Once a state no longer meets the 5 percent requirement, it can pay out extra benefits for only three more weeks.

As of Feb. 4, the number of active Louisiana unemployment claims resulting from Katrina and Rita was 123,728.

Katrina struck 24 weeks ago Monday, on Aug. 29. Those who filed for unemployment after Katrina are approaching the end of the 22 to 26 weeks of benefits.

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Scholarship. Tags: Bank One, Chicago, College, JP Morgan Chase, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase, Katrina, Louisiana, Marianne Sullivan, Scholarship, Student, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.