Every day, the SuretyBonds team works closely with small business owners and entrepreneurs across the country helping them to launch new ventures and take the road less traveled of starting a new company. Without the ambitions and successes of the small business community, we wouldn’t be here today. We understand the value small businesses add not only to our economy but also to the communities we live and work in. It’s a privilege to be able to sponsor our Small Business Success Student Scholarship Program again this year and invest in the next generation of small business owners. Applications are now open for the 2015 academic year, and we will be awarding $1,500 college scholarships to three students whose lives have been shaped by small business experience.

Who’s eligible?

Any student who will attend college classes full time in the fall 2015 semester AND has small business ownership experience whether personally or through a parent, grandparent or legal guardian is eligible to apply for the SuretyBonds.com Small Business Success Student Scholarship Program.

For more official rules, visit www.suretybonds.com/scholarships/official-rules.

What’s involved?

To apply for the scholarship, students should fill out the entry form on our scholarship website. The essay gives our scholarship committee the opportunity to understand how small business has shaped the lives of each of our applicants.

To apply, complete and submit the entry form at www.suretybonds.com/scholarships/apply.

What’s the timeline?

Scholarship applications are now available online. Applicants must submit their entries by 11:59 p.m. CST on March 31, 2015.

The SuretyBonds.com Scholarship Committee will read through all of the applications and select the top 10 applicants based on their submissions. These applicants will be featured, along with their work, on our blog and Facebook page. Public voting begins on May 1 and ends on May 31. The 3 finalists with the most votes will each receive a $1,500 scholarship. Winners will be notified and announced on Facebook on June 3, 2015.

What’s next?

To apply for the SuretyBonds Small Business Success Scholarship, students should submit their applications online before the March 31, 2015 deadline. Applicants who are selected as part of the top 10 finalists must provide a photo to be used during the voting process.

Please help us reach those students across the country who are interested in pursuing entrepreneurship and creating opportunities for tomorrow. If you know a student who meets the program’s requirements, please share this post via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+ and encourage him or her to apply. If you’d like to feature information about the SuretyBonds.com Small Business Success Student Scholarship Program through your media outlet, email [email protected]. Last year, we received over 500 applications and we hope to receive even more this year.

For more information, to view past winners or to apply, visit www.suretybonds.com/scholarships. Read more about our commitment to the small business community here.

SuretyBonds founder and CEO Josh Kayser continues to support entrepreneurs across America and hopes that this is just one of the many ways we’ll do that this year. “We’re blessed to be in a position of growth so this scholarship program is our way of giving back to those who are on the ground floor, creating jobs and fighting the good fight right along with us.”

We can’t to hear your story, and we wish the best of luck to all of our applicants!

Also:

Check out our new Small Business Startup Toolkit with over 21 free tools for small businesses!