The Foundation For Excellence (FFE) is a publicly supported, non-profit organization located in Santa Clara, California which was established in 1997. FFE’s mission is to provide funds for higher education to students who are academically gifted and from very low-income families. FFE has established an organization in India called the Foundation For Excellence India Trust (FFEIT) and shares the same mission as FFE. The office of FFEIT is located in Mumbai.
The Foundation For Excellence (FFE) provides scholarships and other forms of assistance to students pursuing higher education at the higher secondary school, college degree and professional course levels in India. The FFE Trust’s Scholarship program is open to any student in India. There is no discrimination on the basis of caste, community, gender, religion, region or state. So far, the foundation has provided over $4.35 million in over 20,900 scholarships to deserving students in the 25 states in India, over 40% of whom are girls. FFE receives its financial support from public charities, corporate foundation and individual donors. Students who have graduated with the Foundation scholarships have proven themselves to be highly successful in their careers and personal lives.
FFE Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis. A Student may receive scholarships for more than one year. Renewal of a scholarship is dependent on continued academic excellence and financial need. The scholarship is directly awarded and paid to the student.
To qualify for the FFE scholarship, an applicant must be studying in a course approved by the Foundation and meet specified eligibility criteria. The primary focus of the Scholarship Program is to assist students for studies in professional courses leading to degrees in engineering, technology, or medicine. Besides current scholars continuing their studies in engineering, technology or medicine, even those FFE scholars continuing their education in other courses, will continue to be eligible for renewal of their scholarships.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
First time applicants are eligible to apply for a scholarship only when they are in the first year of a professional degree course in engineering, technology or medicine.
To qualify for a scholarship, applicants must meet certain academic excellence and family income requirements.
Academic
The academic eligibility criteria for professional courses in engineering, technology and medicine are :
Only the professional degree courses BE, B Tech and MBBS are eligible for scholarships.
Only new, first time applicants beginning their studies in BE, B Tech or MBBS in the current academic year are eligible.
The applicants should have passed their Higher Secondary/ Pre-University/ Intermediate/ CBSE/ ISC or equivalent board qualifying examination.
The applicants should have scored not less than 70% marks at the qualifying examination.
The applicants admissions to their professional degree courses/ institutions should be on the basis of the open/ general merit rank awarded to them at the state or national level entrance tests or through a counselling process conducted at the state level.
Applicants who have obtained admission to IITs and medical colleges on the basis of national level tests will be considered as special cases on the basis of their respective merit ranks/ marks scored and financial need.
Family Income Criteria
The income eligibility criteria include the following.
The gross family income criteria is Rs. 1,20,000 per year. Gross income refers to the income before deductions for taxes or other purposes. Family refers to the parents or guardians, including father, mother as well as elder brother(s) and sister(s), as applicable.
In addition to gross family income, the education and occupation of parents as well as family members including elder brother(s) and sister(s), the family’s living conditions and the total expenses being incurred by the family on the applicant’s education will be taken into consideration for determining the financial eligibility of an applicant.
Applicants who are the first graduates of the family will be preferred over applicants who are the second or third child of the family taking up graduation.
If one child from a family has already completed higher education with FFE’s assistance, another child from the same family will not be considered.
Where parents’ of applicants are employees, a salary/ pay slip from the employer is mandatory. The salary/ pay slip should clearly show the family member’s gross monthly salary with full details of his/ her basic salary and all allowances and deductions. The employer and the facilitator should certify the salary/ pay slip. Submission of an Income certificate from a local or other government authority in lieu of a salary/ pay slip is not acceptable.
Where parent(s)/ guardian(s) are retirees/pensioners, a pension statement from the pension authority and/or from an authorized bank showing the gross monthly pension of the family member, inclusive of any supplementary allowances and before any deductions is required. Pensioners should also provide documents to show the official status or designation, gross salary drawn at the time of retirement and the name of the employing organization. If the parent/guardian has recently retired under a voluntary retirement scheme, reasons for retirement, and amount of lump sum benefits received on retirement should be disclosed.
Where parent(s)/ guardian(s) are in business or self-employed, income certificate issued by any government authority or the income tax return should be submitted in support of the gross family income specified in the application. Specific details of the nature and size of the business or self-employment should also be provided.
Where parent(s)/ guardian(s) are agriculturists or have farming or cultivation as their source of income, an income certificate from a recognized or competent authority should be submitted. Details of the nature and size of the land holding, crops grown, etc. wet or dry land irrigation should also be provided.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE & SELECTION
The Foundation does not provide application forms directly to applicants. To obtain an application form, applicants need to contact the Foundation’s volunteers (facilitators) located throughout India. To locate a facilitator in their vicinity, prospective applicants should send the following information by email to scholarships@ffe.org or by post to the FFE office at 840 MHT House, 1st Floor, 5th Main, Indiranagar 1st Stage, Bengaluru-560038
Students are selected based on a set of eligibility requirements. The requirements are based on approved courses of study, eligible institutions, academic standards and financial need. The application process is managed by program run by volunteers who are designated as ‘Coordinators’ and ‘Facilitators’. The applicants are pre-qualified by the Facilitators in India. They then work with their Coordinators in the US to discuss the merits of each application before coming to a final decision. The entire process, from application to decision making typically takes 2-4 months.
CONTACT ADDRESS
Foundation For Excellence
No. 840, “MHT House”, 1st Floor, 5th Main, Indiranagar 1st Stage, Bengaluru 560 038
Phone : (080) 2520 1925, 4204 2654
Mobile: +91 99000 76283
For more details Please! Refer the Website: http://www.ffe.org/
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