The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges                      
250 E. Broad St., Suite 1700
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3722

For more information contact Lynne Briggs or Cheryl Kight at
614-469-1950 or briggs@ofic.org, kight@ofic.org

SPRINGBORO RESIDENT, RECIPIENT OF SCHOLARSHIP FROM COX OHIO PUBLISHING, PURSUING EDUCATION DEGREE AT CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY

Erin Olsen, from Springboro, Ohio is a junior at Cedarville University majoring in Middle Childhood Education with an emphasis in math and science.  She is supported in her studies by a scholarship from Cox Ohio Publishing through The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges’ Ohio Scholars Program. 

Cedarville, Erin says, offers everything that she wants in a college: small classes, a safe campus community, an excellent Education program, and Bible as an area of study.  She has already served two internships that have offered her the opportunity to observe in a sixth-grade classroom in Kentucky, and in a fourth-grade inner city class where she worked one-on-one with students in reading comprehension and was able to instruct in small groups.  

In the thank-you letter she wrote to her scholarship donor, Erin comments that the only problem she had when she chose to attend Cedarville was the cost.  She shoulders the responsibility for the majority of her education expenses, working fulltime in a factory during the summers, babysitting on weekends, and working in a campus snack shop during the school year.  She also works at Cedarville as a Resident Assistant.   “Education is incredibly important to me,” she said, “because it sets the foundation for my future.  Your scholarship has made my education more possible and helps me as well as my family.   Thank you for your support.  I am truly grateful.”

OFIC is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 34 independent Ohio colleges and universities and operates one of the largest, most comprehensive and diverse scholarship management services in the state.  OFIC member colleges collectively enroll nearly 97,000 students and award one-third of all bachelor’s degrees in the state. For 58 years OFIC has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education and has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship commitments through funds raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations, thereby assuring continuation of excellence in private higher education. OFIC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of Ohio’s corporate leaders, as well as presidents of the 34 member colleges.

The member colleges are:  Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bluffton University, Capital University, Cedarville University, University of Dayton, Defiance College, Denison University, The University of Findlay, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Franklin University, Heidelberg College, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Lourdes College, Malone University, Marietta College, Mount Union College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum College, Notre Dame College, Oberlin College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College, Urbana University, Ursuline College, Walsh University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster.