UIC students awarded Asian American, Pacific Islander scholarships

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) has awarded scholarships to 18 students from University of Illinois at Chicago in support of their studies during the 2016 spring semester.

APIASF is the nation’s largest non-profit provider of college scholarships for Asian American and Pacific Islander students.

The UIC students are among more than 625 undergraduates awarded APIASF’s Asian American and Pacific Islander-Serving Institution scholarships totaling more than $625,000 during the 2015-16 academic year. Awardees receive $2,500 to $5,000 to apply toward their tuition costs.

To be eligible for the award, students must be of Asian or Pacific Islander ethnicity as defined by the U.S. Census; demonstrate financial need; and be enrolled full-time as a degree-seeking student at one of 18 schools designated an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.

UIC received the federal designation in 2010. More than 22 percent of UIC’s undergraduates identify as either Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander, and about half of its undergraduates are Pell grant recipients.

The scholarship program is supported by the Coca-Cola Foundation, Educational Testing Service, General Mills Foundation, Hilton Worldwide, Honda, USA Funds, Walmart Foundation, and Wells Fargo.

Local recipients from UIC and their hometowns are:

BERWYN – Carlo Ahumada, freshman in finance

CHICAGO – Kara Liu, undeclared junior; Mohammed Mithun, senior in nursing; Samrudhi Vaghmare, Honors College sophomore in information and decision sciences; Rabees Rafiq, senior in chemical engineering; Peniza Thapa, senior in civil engineering; Waymond Zhou, Honors College senior in biological sciences

GENEVA – Rohan Patel, Honors College senior in biochemistry

HARWOOOD HEIGHTS – Khalid Javed, senior in biological sciences

JUSTICE – Mary Chaudhry, senior in biological sciences

LAKE IN THE HILLS – Paul Lancero, junior in kinesiology

LaSALLE – Helen Klabel, Honors College senior in finance

NAPERVILLE – Sarah Lee, Honors College senior in neuroscience

PLAINFIELD – Sana Khan, senior in neuroscience

ROUND LAKE – Sarah Le, junior in psychology

SKOKIE – Krupa Shah, sophomore in chemical engineering

STREAMWOOD – Adil Siddique, Honors College junior in neuroscience; Nabeel Qureshi, senior in chemical engineering