Maria's Legacy: Alicia's Scholarship
Alicia Blythe was raised in East Moline, Illinois by Joe and Maria DeFauw. Joe was a truck driver and Maria worked at Augustana College in food service. Joe and Maria always stressed to Alicia that education would give her a path to a different life.
Neither of Alicia's parents went to college. Regardless, Joe always told Alicia that college would be the best time of her life and even had her practice her "executive signature" when she was a child dreaming of a different path.
Maria worked at the Augustana cafeteria to provide tuition for Alicia's undergraduate education. Unfortunately, Maria passed away while Alicia was still in college. Maria would be proud to see that her daughter not only graduated from Augustana but went on to complete her Master's Degree at Northwestern University. Alicia is a lifelong learner and her dream has been to establish a scholarship to help other young learners achieve their dreams.
This scholarship seeks to honor Maria’s legacy by supporting students throughout their higher education journeys.
Any low-income, first-generation high school senior or undergraduate student at Augustana College in Illinois may apply for this scholarship opportunity. High school senior applicants do not need to be planning to attend Augustana.
To apply, tell us how your college degree will impact your life and the lives of your family, what a college degree means to you, what you’re passionate about, and what you’ve done to pursue your passion.
How will your college degree change the path of your life and the lives of future generations of your family? What would a college degree mean to you personally? What are you passionate about and what have you done to pursue your passion?
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FAQ
The application deadline is May 2, 2025. Winners will be announced on Jun 1, 2025.
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Award amounts per winner are designated by the donor. Check the award amount for a detailed breakdown.
The winner will be publicly announced on Jun 1, 2025. Prior to the announcement date, we may contact finalists with additional questions about their application. We will work with donors to review all applications according to the scholarship criteria. Winners will be chosen based on the merit of their application.
Award checks will be sent to the financial aid office of the winner's academic institution or future academic institution in their name to be applied to their tuition, and in the name of their institution (depending on the school's requirements). If the award is for a qualified educational non-tuition expense, we will work with the winner directly to distribute the award and make sure it goes towards qualified expenses.
Before we award the scholarship, the winner will be required to confirm their academic enrollment status. Depending on the circumstances, verification of Student ID and/or their most recent transcript will be required.
If you have any questions about this scholarship or the Bold.org platform, just email contact@bold.org and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.
Yes. The terms and conditions for this scholarship can be found here.