With college tuition on the rise, students need all the help they can get in paying for school. There are plenty of options available including loans, scholarships, and grants, but coming out of school with thousands of dollars in debt is far from ideal. In 2012, the average student had $27,000 in debt at graduation and that number has been steadily rising for the past few decades. “It’s one thing to pursue your dreams, but if you’re borrowing to pursue them, you have to make sure you have a plan to pay them back,” said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the financial aid sites Fastweb.comand FinAid.org. While debt may be a scary prospect, college can be a great investment in a student’s future. People with a college degree tend to make much more money than those without, especially in certain fields, and one of the most lucrative and fastest growing industries out there is healthcare. Professionals working in the medical field at all levels do much better than average, and those with graduate degrees tend to have even higher prospects. Even so, nobody wants to get buried in loan debt – even in a solid healthcare career. That’s where the Tylenol Future Care Scholarship comes in, providing $5,000-$10,000 scholarships to 40 students who are pursuing healthcare careers. The scholarship is designed to help ease the burden of schooling and its inherent costs, and thousands of students have already benefited from the program in the past few decades. “The Tylenol brand is deeply committed to caring for people who are committed to caring for others,” said Denice Torres, the President of McNeil Consumer Healthcare. This will be the 23rd year of the program and Denice is happy to continue to be involved, “To date, our Tylenol Future Care Scholarship program has awarded more than $8.9 million in scholarship funds to more than 6,700 students.” McNeil Consumer Healthcare – the company that produces Tylenol – will award these scholarships to students who can show that they have a deep passion and commitment to helping others as well as high aspirations for their healthcare degree. McNeil will also consider the applicant’s leadership and academic qualities as well as their involvement in the community. This year, $250,000 in scholarships will be given out to students. Ten students will receive a $10,000 award and 30 will get a $5,000 award. To be eligible, students must have completed one year of undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two or four year college or vocational/technical school and be pursuing a healthcare degree. The application period ends on June 15th and the winners will be announced August 31st. Source
