AbbVie CF Scholarship Program Open for 2020-21 School Year
University students with cystic fibrosis (CF) are invited to apply to AbbVie’s CF Scholarship program and a chance to receive up to $25,000 for the upcoming school year.
The program supports U.S. residents with CF who are pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree at an accredited institution. Applications, submitted online or through the post, are open until May 24. More information can be found here.
A total of 40 students will be awarded $3,000 based on qualifications that stress academic excellence, creativity (including an essay to accompany the application), and community involvement or extracurricular activities. The scholarship is expected to help with higher-education expenses during the 2020–21 academic year.
Scholarship winners will be notified on or around July 13.
Winners also enter a competition for one of two additional $22,000 scholarship, called Thriving Student awards. One goes to an undergraduate and the other to a graduate-level student.
This award is based on exceptional academics, achievements, and a creative presentation. Voting will be open the public between Sept. 16 to Sept. 30, and decide 30% of an applicant’s total score. Applications submitted by scholarship winners will be posted on AbbVie’s site for viewing. The remaining 70% of overall points will be awarded by a company-selected judging panel.
AbbVie will announce the 2020 Thriving Undergraduate and Thriving Graduate Scholarship winners on or before Oct. 22.
Previous AbbVie CF Scholars winners of the lower awards, but not previous Thriving Student winners, can apply again for this coming year’s scholarship provided they are continuing with higher education.
“I’ve always been incredibly passionate about my education and believe that having CF has motivated me to work even harder to accomplish my personal and professional goals,” Katherine “Katie” Lawliss, 2019 Thriving Graduate Student, said in a press release.
“To be recognized by the AbbVie CF Scholarship program is incredibly inspiring, and reminds me that my disease is not a disability and that quitting isn’t an option,” Lawliss, who is working toward a degree in clinical psychology, added.
The annual AbbVie CF Scholarship program, started in 1993, was created in recognition of the financial burdens of CF faced by many families, and to support remarkable students with this disease. It has awarded over $3.3 million in scholarships to more than 1,000 students to date.
“We celebrate all of the remarkable students living with CF who with great determination and resilience are able to make incredible strides in and out of the classroom,” said John Duffey, vice president, U.S. Specialty, at AbbVie.
“Recipients of the AbbVie CF Scholarship continue to be positive role models for the CF community, and make us proud to lead such an impactful program,” Duffey added.
Scholarship applicants are not required to have used, be using, or plan to take any medication or product marketed by AbbVie.
