The Union Plus Scholarship Program has provided nearly 30 years of higher education support for working families.
The Union Plus Scholarship program is an example of the U.S. labor movement's commitment to higher education.
Since 1991, Union Privilege, through the Union Plus Scholarship program, has helped fulfill the educational dreams of students representing more than 13 million working families across the nation.
The Union Plus Scholarship awards are presented annually to union members or members of their families who want to begin or continue their post-secondary education.
In 2020, 215 union members and union family members have been awarded $300,000 in scholarships, ranging from $750 to $4,000.
2020 Scholarship Winners
$4,000 Winners
- Arnulfo A. Arellano, AFT
- Annie Elias (Deilke), AFT
- Dylan C. Hiser, BLET
- Daisy J. Hoover, AFT
- Jacob P. Johnsrud, IAFF
- Anthony R. Lein, IAFF
- Jonathan D. Merchan, ATU
- Ariel Del Hoyo Muñoz, UWUA
- Marian A. Prather, ATU
- Lacy C. Schoneboom, IBT
- Emily R. Zembricki, IUOE
$3,000 Winners
- Amanda M. Mavricos, AFSCME
- Kennedy McDaniel, UAW
- Olivia Mubarek, AFT
- Scott W. Siegel, IBEW
- Mark Steccone, CSEA
- Phoebe Tran, AFSCME
$2,500 Winners
- Rajeev Haymond, CSEA
$2,000 Winners
- Alexandria R. Arndt, UAW
- Teresa M. Baranowski, BAC / IBEW
- Danyelle A. Burke North, CSEA
- Andrew P. Cardone, BLET
- Stacie G. Chandler, UAW / AFSCME
- Lauren I. Devine, BMWED
- Reiley M. Drake, IBEW
- Nicholas P. Hanratty, IUOE
- Melissa J. Hansing, NNU
- Gregory Harasym, TWU
- Roxanne I. Harris, IBEW / NNU
- Hudson R. Hassler, IUOE
- Summer N. Heckert, APWU
- Kaylan N. Johnson, SMART
- Nathan H. Kies, CWA / IBEW / AFT
- Amelia R. Murphy, AFT
- Candice R. Nance Carrigan, AFT
- Ali R. Nedved, AFGE
- Ellie R. Pazol, AFT
- Greta J. Peterson-Nafziger, AFT
- Anna M. Poslednik, CWA / AFSCME
- Devin C. Romines, AFT
- Coletrane A. Sipes, AFSCME
$1,500 Winners
- Ivy E. J. Adams, AFA-CWA Claire D. Alarid
- Eliza Albenze, AFGE
- Julie Amenta, CSEA
- Mairead F. Burke, IUOE
- Jake Church, IAM
- Austin J. Dalfonso, IBEW / CWA
- Madison L. Deal, CWA
- Joshua A. Holmes, ALPA
- Paul M. Irvine, UFCW
- Tracie Kimbrough, SEIU
- Bronte S. Lacey, UFCW / AFSCME
- Haley E. Long, CWA
- Ryan P. O’Toole, SAG-AFTRA / AFA-CWA
- Zachary A. Powell, USW
- Brynn I. Radtke, IRONWORKERS
- Ashley Sanders, UAW / AFSCME
- Rylie J. Sanders, AFT
- Hailee M. J. Schalwig, CWA
- Owen Seltzer, AFT
- Hattie E. Sergent, AFT
- Maliyah E. Shifferly, AFSCME
- Joseph P. Sorgi III, UAW
- Jeremy A. Stepansky, AFM
- Sydney E. Stoehr, AFT
- Mia Sweeney, AFT
- Anna Z. Szapiro, BCTGM / AEA
- Megan Taylor, AFT
- Tawny Townsend, AFT / IAFF
- Lynne C. Turner, AFT
- Anabel Varghese, APWU
- Chloe R. Weiss, UA
- Madison C. Whisenand, CSEA
- Adin A. Williams, AFA-CWA
- Brooke L. Williams, UTU
- Sarah N. Williams, IBEW
- Jordan L. Williamson, LIUNA / IBEW
- Mackenzie L. Wyman, IAFF
$1,000 Winners
- Akram Abounaja, ATU
- Kaytlen W. C. Akau, AFSCME
- Aime Y. Alarcon, CSEA
- Amanda Allen, SEIU
- Camryn E. Alves, IBT
- Amy K. Arnes, SAG-AFTRA
- Angela Azpeitia, UURWA
- Katherine L. Betrus, AFT
- Cassidy L. Black, USW
- Enkh-Uchral Bolor, AFGE
- Kai Bradley-Gutiérrez de Terán, CWA
- Emilee R. Breitner, APWU
- Jenna A. B. Brinkman, UAW
- Haylee R. Buck, APWU
- Maria I. Burritt, AFSCME
- Luca Calabro, AEA / SAG-AFTRA
- Eric Canteenwala, IFPTE
- Allison J. Carlson, SAG-AFTRA / IBT
- Anna Cetera, LIUNA
- Julia N. Charest, CWA
- Aileen B. Coen, IBEW
- Logan M. Cogdill, BLET
- Jon H. M. Cowart III, IUOE
- Alejandro T. Cuesta, AFT
- Lamarrius Danley, UFCW
- William M. Davis, AFT / SEIU
- Sanaa Davis-McClain, AFSCME
- Matthew J. Delgado, CWA
- Heather A. Dickrell, IUOE
- Hannah M. Doll, IAFF
- Enrique Espinoza, UNITE HER
- Benjamin J. Falcon, CWA
- Shakira Florence E. Fangonilo, AFSCME
- Cade Fortney, IBT
- Jason C. Fults, IBEW / AFT
- Michael A. Gallegos, UFCW
- Coral D. Garcia, CSEA
- Isabella C. Gayoso, ALPA
- Malik George, CWA
- Miles A. George, CWA
- Grainne M. Giblin, IUOE
- Josue Gil-Silva, AFT
- Melody Gonzalez, CSEA
- Jenna M. Goodwin, IUE-CWA
- Nicholas S. Gross, UTU
- Kelsey L. Haas, SEIU
- Olivia A. Hanisch, CWA
- Zakiya S. Helm, CWA / AFSCME
- Vanessa J. Henriquez, UNITE HERE
- Jasmine M. Hernandez, SMART
- Henry Hua, CWA
- Bailey M. Imhoff, IBT
- Zachary B. Jeffries, IUOE
- Shola Jimoh, AFT
- Hannah E. Kavanaugh, AFM
- Joy I. Lamech, CSEA
- Anastasia Langner, AFSCME
- Esther Lee, AFSCME / NALC
- Mikayla N. Lipscomb, USW
- Karla S. Lopez, LIUNA
- Kale W. Macormic, BMWED
- Ryan A. Maloney, IBEW
- Ana A. Manzanares, CSEA
- Ilan Matkovski, CSEA
- Kayla F. McLaughlin, IBEW
- Roxanna R. McNeilan, AFSCME / UAW
- Ariel J. Meyer, NNU
- Maria Zawilski, AFT
- Jenna S. Miller, AEA
- Kelsey Morrey, AFT
- Katrina J. L. Mulherin, AFSCME
- Claire Muranaka, IUOE
- Makaelah Murray, UTU
- David Muscarella, AFT
- Jillian K. Muszynski, IBEW
- Daniel T. Mygan, CWA
- Ryleigh K. Napier, AFGE
- Shirley Napravnick-Valero, LIUNA
- Karole Nicoletta, CWA
- Morgan L. Nohren, IBEW
- Jessica I. Olson, AFT
- Macy A. O'Neill, IBEW / IAM
- Stephanie D. Ordonez, CWA
- Mary M. Orloff, IUOE
- Gabriela Perillo, UFCW
- Emily M. Pimentel, IBEW
- Leryn J. Quintana, NALC
- Julius W. Radakovits, AFSCME
- Abigail E. Randan, NALC / AFT
- Domenico M. Recine, Jr., IBT
- Grady Regan, AFT
- Marina Rezk, NPMHU
- Brian D. Rogers, AFSCME
- Rachel J. Rothman, APWU
- Sierra S. Salas, ILWU
- Noah C. Salo, AFSCME
- Nikolas R. Serrano, IBEW
- Janell M. Shute, CSEA
- Troy J. Sica, NATCA / RWDSU
- Zachary Siedlecki, UA
- Mackenzie J. Skinner, IAFF / AFSCME
- Alec Stanton, AFT
- Timothy B. Sullivan, CWA
- Caitlin Sutherin, UA
- Laryssa Takiue, AFSCME
- Stacy Tallon, IAFF
- Joel Tate, UFCW
- Kylie S. Taylor, NPMHU
- Randy B. Terry II, AFGE / CWA
- Nathaniel S. Thompson, AFA-CWA
- Cameron A. Tisdale, CWA
- Keith A. Turner, CSEA
- Isabel J. Valdez, UAW
- Liyanni A. Vazquez, AFT
- Nicholas M. Vicinanza, AFSCME
- Sebastiane D. Wall, AFT
- Emily Wightman, AFT
- Declan T. Willems, IRONWORKERS
- Dylan J. Williams, AFSCME
- Charles T. Williams, BMWED
- Derek P. Willson, AFT
- Ross Wingert, IAFF
- Kaitlyn L. Wong, CSEA
- Mary Kate Yatsonsky, AFGE
- Michael D. Yerkes, UA
- James R. Young, AFSCME
- Joshua M. Young, BLET
- Giovanna G. Zampa, IRONWORKERS
- Rachel E. Zimmerli, IAFF
$750 Winners
- Aiden Adcock, UAW
- Tianna Cebulla, IBEW
- Elizabeth B. Czeiszperger, OPEIU
- Tristan S. Flores, TCU-IAM
- Cayden R. Kelley, IBT
- Emma L. McAnulty, CWA
- Beth McIlquham, IBEW
- Adrienne Thompson, AFA-CWA
Challenging Process
The students selected for awards represent a wide sampling of demographics, union affiliations, goals and accomplishments. Representatives from the American Association of Community Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the United Negro College Fund judged the applications.
According to the judges, the caliber of students this year made the selection process very challenging. The students are from diverse backgrounds, and as a whole, they received top SAT scores, were well-rounded in their studies and extracurricular activities, and they understood the value of working families and union membership.
How the Scholarship Program Works
In addition to demonstrated academic ability, applicants submitted essays describing their career goals, detailing their relationship with the labor movement, and explaining why they are deserving of a union scholarship.
The program is open to union members, their spouses and dependent children of unions that are participating in any Union Plus program. Individuals must be accepted into an accredited college or university, community college or recognized technical or trade school at the time the award is issued. Members do not have to purchase any Union Plus program product or participate in any Union Plus program to apply.
The Union Plus Scholarship Program is offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation.
Applications
Each year, the application deadline is January 31 and the chosen scholarship recipients' are notified by mail on May 31. All applicants are notified when the award winner list is posted in early June.
The 2021 Application will be available in mid-June, 2020.