Students whose families are credit union members have the opportunity to earn part of $11,000 in scholarship money set aside by the Minnesota Family Involvement Council.

Any member of a Minnesota credit union can apply for two $1,000 scholarships and 18 $500 scholarships which will be awarded by the FIC.

Students who are interested need to complete an application form and write a 500 word essay on what the phrase “living within your means” means to them, as well as answering the question, “How can your credit union help you achieve this?”

Applicants must be attending some sort of post-secondary educational institute, whether it be a community or technical college, graduate or law school or a university either in the fall of 2011 or the spring of 2012. They must also be pursuing a two- or four-year degree or a similar program.

Applications can be found at Accentra Credit Union in Austin or at their website at www.accentracu.org.