The National Court Reporters Foundation opened nominations for its 2015 Student Intern Scholarship. The deadline to submit nominations is July 6. To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be NCRA members, enrolled in an NCRA-certified court reporter training program, and involved in the school’s internship program within the past year, among other criteria. Two winners will be selected by random drawing, and each will receive $1,000 to support them as they finish out their education.
“As a student who was the recipient of three different scholarships in my two and a half years in court reporting school, I was always baffled when I heard my fellow students say that they did not apply for a scholarship,” said Michael McMorran, a freelance court reporter from San Diego, Calif. “As someone who attended a school that was roughly $12,000 a year, I think a fair assumption would be that a good portion of the student population who attended were not paying out of pocket the entire tuition cost on a yearly basis.”
In the last 10 years, NCRF’s Student Intern Scholarship has aided dozens of students in their efforts to complete their court reporting education. The scholarship is supported by donations from NCRA members to the Foundation.
To be eligible, student nominees must also be interning in any of the following three career paths: judicial (official and freelance), CART, and captioning. A nominee in a judicial court reporting program must also have passed at least one of the program’s Q&A tests at a minimum of 190 words per minute, while a nominee in a CART or captioning program must have passed at least one of the program’s literary tests at a minimum of 160 words per minute.
Nominees for the NCRF Student Intern Scholarship must also have a grade point average of at least a 3.5 overall (based on a 4.0 standard or equivalent), demonstrate the need for financial assistance, and possess all the qualities exemplified by a professional court reporter, including professional attitude, demeanor, dress, and motivation. Finally, all criteria must be confirmed and verified by the submitting program.
“The absolute worst possible scenario that could come from applying for a scholarship such as the NCRF Student Intern Scholarship is that you don’t get it and it costs you nothing but a few minutes of your time to go through the application process,” McMorran said.
“However, more importantly, the best possible scenario that could come from applying for one of the many scholarships afforded to students within this scholastic field is a helpful sum of money made possible by those who know how hard it is to get through the financial burden of school as well as getting started in this amazing field,” he added.
The application for the 2015 NCRF Student Intern Scholarship is here. For more information about NCRF scholarships and grants, or to submit nominations, contact B.J. Shorak, NCRF’s Deputy Executive Director, at 800-272-6272, ext. 126, or by email at bjshorak@ncra.org.
