Eight Scholarship Awards Are Available Through
APPMA’s Jules Schwimmer Scholarship Program

The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) Scholarship Program was established to aid deserving students who are eligible for the awards based on their parent's employment with an APPMA member firm. In addition, the program allows member firms to establish their own scholarship programs by "piggybacking" on the APPMA Jules Schwimmer awards. (To find out if your company offers additional scholarship opportunities, contact your company's human resources department.)

Eligibility
Those eligible to apply are high school seniors, college freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who are the dependent sons and daughters (including adopted and stepchildren) of full-time employees of APPMA member firms world wide. The parent must have been employed by an APPMA member firm for at least one year as of January 1 of the year in which the scholarship is awarded.

NOTE: The parents of applicants must still be employed by an APPMA member firm at the time the winners are selected in May.

Application Procedure
To obtain and submit your application online go to www.scholarshipadministrators.net and use the ID code "APPMA" by May 1, 2008. For more information please contact Emily Johnson with Scholarship Program Administrators at: P. O. Box 23737, Nashville, TN 37202-3737, Phone (615) 627-3833, Fax (615) 320-3151.

Completed applications must be postmarked, faxed or submitted online to Scholarship Program Administrators no later than May 1, 2008 for entry.

Scholarship Award
Eight (8) $1,500 scholarships are awarded each year. These non-renewable scholarships will be awarded to eight (8) applicants who present the most impressive combination of academic and non-academic credentials and are able to demonstrate financial need for the award.

The scholarship funds will be applied to educational expenses at any accredited, nonprofit college or university world wide. A recipient may transfer from one college to another and retain the award. There is a new competition for these awards each year. Winning the scholarship one year does not necessarily mean that the recipient will win the following year.

Selection of Winners
Selecting the winners is a two-step process. The first step is the ranking of all applicants on the basis of academic merit by the impartial selection committee from Scholarship Program Administrators, Inc. The second step is the calculation of financial need for the top-ranked applicants. The final selection is made from the top-ranked applicants who can demonstrate financial need.

In ranking the applicants, the Selection Committee considers the applicants' high school records, standardized test results, and extracurricular activities. The college GPA is also considered if the applicant is already enrolled in college. All applicants will be notified of the results of the competition by the end of May.

Program Administration
To assure complete impartiality in the selection of the winners and to maintain a high level of professionalism in dealing with students, parents, high schools and colleges, this program is administered by Scholarship Program Administrators, Inc., a firm that specializes in the administration of sponsored scholarship programs.

Any questions about policies, procedures and payments should be directed to: Emily Johnson, Scholarship Program Administrators, Inc. P.O. Box 23737, Nashville, TN 37202-3737,  Telephone (615) 627-3833, Fax (615) 320-3151, or www.scholarshipadministrators.net.

Responsibilities of Recipients
Each scholarship recipient must enroll as a full-time student in the fall of the year in which the scholarship is awarded, and continue in school for the entire academic year without interruption, barring illness, emergency, or military service.

Each scholarship recipient is responsible for making certain that the scholarship checks are delivered to their college or university.

Payment of Scholarship Funds
On or about August 1, each scholarship recipient is sent a check, made payable to the college, to their home address for the academic term.

Jules Schwimmer
For almost three decades Jules Schwimmer served APPMA as its Executive Vice President. In recognition of this long relationship, APPMA has established a scholarship program in his name.

These scholarships are an appropriate way of recognizing Jules’ contribution to our industry because education has always been very important to him. A first generation American, born and raised on New York’s lower east side, Jules attended the City College of New York as an evening school student while working during the day for the American Fur Merchants Credit Association. He graduated in 1951 with a BBA degree in Economics from CCNY.

According to Jules, “the opportunity to attend college should not be denied to those otherwise qualified students simply because their families can not afford to pay the tuition.”