NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
Foot Locker Foundation today announces the launch of its 2015-2016
Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program. The program, now in its fifth
consecutive year, awards $20,000
college scholarships to outstanding student athletes who
demonstrate exceptional academic ability and strong leadership
skills in sports, school and within their communities. This
year, the Foundation is proud to announce the addition of the Ken
C. Hicks Scholarship, which will be awarded to one of the 20
students selected, in honor of the organization's former Chairman
and CEO, who played an instrumental role in the development of the
program. The scholarship recognizes Ken's deep commitment to
academic excellence and will award an additional $5,000 (for a total of $25,000) to one extraordinary student who
exemplifies elevated academic achievement, personal passion, and a
true love of the game.
"We are very pleased to enhance our Foot Locker Scholar Athletes
Program this year with the addition of the Ken C. Hicks
scholarship, underscoring our Company's deep commitment to academic
excellence," states Richard A.
Johnson, President and CEO of Foot Locker, Inc. "The
program strives to make a college education, and the benefits
associated with it, a reality for hard-working students who have
exhibited an outstanding potential for leadership. Our goal is to
empower young adults who demonstrate strong initiative both in
their team locker rooms and in their classrooms and
communities."
Today, high school students and their families are faced with
the skyrocketing costs of higher education. Many talented
students are hindered in their pursuit of college dreams by the
significant financial burden associated with a college education.
Last year, the average cost of a private, four-year, not-for-profit
university was $31,231— an expense
that could eat into two-thirds of the household income for the
median U.S. family[1]. Faced with such unmanageable college
costs, an unprecedented number of students and families are
resorting to taking out loans. This year, cumulative student debt
reached $1.2 trillion.
The availability of scholarship programs such as the Foot Locker
Foundation's can make a real difference in the affordability of a
college education. This year's twenty winners will join the
program's four previous classes of Foot Locker Scholar Athletes,
which will result in 100 total scholarship recipients over the five
years since the program's inception in 2011. With our 2016 Class,
the Foot Locker Foundation will have invested $2 million in the education and future of some of
America's most promising scholar-athletes.
Applicants must be college-bound in the Fall of 2016, be an
active participant in a sports-related activity, and maintain at
least a 3.0 unweighted GPA. Participants will be required to
submit two essays and one recommendation to be considered for the
scholarship. Students can apply online or be nominated by
teachers, coaches, mentors, family and friends by visiting
footlockerscholarathletes.com. Applications close December 17, 2015 at 5:00
p.m. (EST).
The Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program is a part of the Foot
Locker Foundation, the charitable arm of Foot Locker, Inc., which
provides monetary support for educational and sports programs
across the country. Supporting this all-star program is Fastweb, a
trusted scholarship and financial aid resource used by students to
help find opportunities to pay for school.
About Foot Locker Foundation:
Founded in 2001, Foot
Locker Foundation is the charitable arm of Foot Locker, Inc., a
specialty athletic retailer that operates approximately 3,500
stores in 23 countries in North
America, Europe,
Australia and New Zealand. Since its inception, the
Foundation has developed significant partnerships, programs, and
initiatives to improve and enrich communities across the country.
Our mission is to promote a better world for today's youth by
creating, developing, and supporting innovative educational
programs and encouraging health and well-being through physical
activity.
About Fastweb:
Fastweb, a top site in the Monster
Worldwide (NYSE:MWW) network, is the nation's recognized leader in
helping students pay for school, by providing scholarship and
financial aid information, as well as information on jobs and
internships. One out of three college-bound seniors use the site,
and more than 50 million users have benefitted from Fastweb's
information and services. Fastweb lets students create personalized
profiles that can be matched against its expansive databases of
colleges and scholarships. As the oldest and most popular free
online scholarship matching service, the database has more than 1.5
million scholarships totaling over $3.4
billion. To learn more about Fastweb, visit www.fastweb.com
and follow Fastweb on social media for the latest on paying for
school all year long: Twitter (at @PayingForSchool); Facebook;
Pinterest; Google+.
[1] CBS News
(http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/16/why-college-costs-are-so-high-and-rising.html)
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SOURCE Foot Locker Foundation, Inc.