Columbia Central

Michael Fryzlewicz Scholarship

for continuing undergraduate students

The Michael Fryzlewicz Scholarship was established to assist in defraying tuition costs for students majoring in American Sign Language to pursue careers in the field of interpreting.

Deadline to Apply: February 01, 2025

• How to Apply

  Visit Internal Scholarships and click on APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS to access the College-Wide Undergraduate Scholarship Application. Only complete scholarship applications submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the scholarship committee.

  Please follow all directions carefully. Students must submit the following materials to make a complete Michael Fryzlewicz Scholarship application. There are four parts to the application:

  PART 1: ESSAY

  In two pages, please address the following:

  • Why do you want to become an interpreter?
  • Provide a brief description of your educational and professional goals in interpreting.
  • Please explain a situation that you have encountered where you have had to show cultural awareness and understanding. How did you handle that situation?

  Your essay must be double-spaced and must include your name and MyColumbia ID in the upper right-hand corner of each page.

  PART 2: CREATIVE SAMPLE

  Upload a 2-5 minute video of yourself presenting in American Sign Language, answering the question:

  • "Why are you a good candidate for this scholarship?"

  Please upload videos in .mov, .wmv, .flv, or .mp4 format, or upload a .pdf, .doc, or .docx document with an external link to your video. Note: Upload size limit is 50MB. 

  
  PART 3: LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

  Two letters of recommendation are required; one from ASL-English Interpretation faculty and one from Deaf Studies faculty who are best qualified to comment on your American Sign Language ability.

  For your convenience, the online application will send an email notification directly to the person you've chosen to complete your recommendation. Please be prepared with the email address of your recommender. 

  Remember to contact your recommenders directly before providing their information on the application. Since this application is part of the larger College-Wide Undergraduate Scholarship application, also note the specific scholarship(s) for which they will be recommending you. Be sure to give recommenders as much time as possible to write letters. Requests made at the last minute are often difficult to fulfill by the deadline.

  PART 4: FAFSA SUBMISSION SUMMARY

  A current FAFSA Submission Summary must be on file. To receive a FAFSA Submission Summary, students must complete a 2025-26 financial aid application (FAFSA) by February 1, 2025.
  
  

  Access online applications through Internal Scholarships.

• Scholarship Terms
  • Application must be submitted by February 1, 2025 for review by the committee
  • Amount of this one-year scholarship is up to $3,000, awarded half in Fall and half in Spring
  • Scholarship is applied toward tuition only
  • Students’ scholarships that are applied toward tuition may not exceed the amount of their tuition costs
  • Recipients must maintain undergraduate enrollment in at least 6 credit hours each semester during the 2025-26 academic year
  • Recipients who graduate in Fall 2025 may receive the full scholarship amount in Fall 2025
  • Recipients must have submitted all outstanding documents to Columbia Central before the scholarship can be disbursed. Students can review missing documents in the MyColumbia portal under MyFinancials
  • Scholarship may be used toward a study abroad program through one of Columbia's student exchange programs, excluding Summer sessions. Please note: Recipients who enroll in an independent study abroad program will forfeit their scholarship during the semester spent abroad
  • The rules and regulations governing other sources of financial aid (federal, state, institutional and other grants, gifts, or loans) will apply
  • Columbia College Chicago reserves the right to withhold the scholarship in any year in which, at the sole discretion of the scholarship committee, suitable candidates cannot be found among applicants

IMPORTANT DATES

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