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Toni Hunter, a seventh grade student at Selma Middle School, has been named a recipient of the College Foundation, Inc.'s Victor E. Bell, Jr. Scholarship.  Hunter is one of the first 10 winners of the new scholarship named in honor of the visionary former chairman of the CFI Board of Trustees who served for thirty years and left a strong legacy of service to North Carolina.  The Bell Scholarship will encourage high potential North Carolina seventh grade students to aspire to a college education. 

Individual awards are $2,000 per year, from middle school through the fourth year of college, up to a maximum total of $20,000 per recipient, as long as the recipient continues to meet annual renewal criteria. Awards are contributed to an account in the North Carolina 529 plan with the individual recipient named as the beneficiary of the account.

Nominations are by invitation only to middle school counselors and principals, as well as selected college readiness/access groups across the state.  CFI held a random drawing to choose six recipients from nominations submitted by counselors and principals, with a selection made from each of six regions of North Carolina, currently defined by telephone area code.  Three additional recipients were drawn from nominations received from college readiness/access groups, and another recipient was drawn from the combination of remaining nominees.

College Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation serving North Carolina students and families since 1955, administers a portfolio of $3 billion in low-interest education loans, the state's college grant programs and the tax-free "529" college savings program on behalf of the State Education Assistance Authority.  Website: www.CFNC.org. Toll-free number:  1-866-866-CFNC.