Online degree candidates in Michigan may benefit from state-sponsored competitions

Online degree candidates in Michigan may benefit from state-sponsored competitions

Michigan residents who require financial assistance to help them pay for tuition at a campus-based or online college may want to consider entering scholarship competitions, such as Motivate Michigan.

Government officials within the state created the program to foster economic recovery and help current and prospective college students pay for school.

Applicants may enter the contest by working in teams or as individuals to develop original solutions that could lead the state out of the economic downturn. During the first phase of the competition, students can submit their ideas online by writing an outline of the problem they wish to solve, a feasible solution and the potential impact their idea could have on the state's recovery.

The top 10 competitors will be invited to write a 150 word abstract or create a two-minute video describing their idea. A total of five finalists will be selected to give a 15-minute presentation of their proposal to a panel of judges in May, when the winners will be named.

The awardees will receive a percentage of the scholarship pool, which will be worth $100,000 at most.

By Stefanie Hughes