Rasmussen Scholarship Program

Background

Since 2003, through the generosity of the late Wallace N. Rasmussen and the scholarship program that bears his name, students pursuing courses in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, English as a Second Language (ESL), French, German, Portuguese, Spanish – for both children and adults – as well as courses for Teachers of ESL (TESL), have benefitted from the assistance he helped establish.

Mr. Wallace N. Rasmussen, a businessman and philanthropist who made a lifetime commitment to helping others achieve the formal education he never had, contributed annually to support and raise awareness of cultural and foreign language learning opportunities in Tennessee.  The words of Mr. Rasmussen still inspire us today: “Now more than ever before, it is important to give people the tools to live well together, broaden their horizons, and take place in the globalization process.”  The Tennessee Language Center strives to honor his legacy and vision through the continuation of this program.

Criteria

In awarding the Rasmussen Scholarship, the Program Committee will take the following factors into consideration:

  1. Total amount of tuition and materials charges.
  2. Family size, income, and financial circumstances.
  3. Commitment to the study of choice at the Tennessee Language Center.

Note: A full scholarship is typically not awarded; however, most successful applicants can expect at least half of their fees to be covered.

Guidelines

  1. Applicant must be Tennessee resident.
  2. Only one application may be accepted per family per term.
  3. All information received, whether personal or financial, will be kept in strict confidence by the scholarship committee.
  4. All applications and requested documents are to be submitted by the deadline to the Rasmussen Scholarship Award Program Committee, Tennessee Language Center, 220 French Landing, Suite 1-B, Nashville, TN 37243 or scanned and emailed to worldlanguage@tennessee.edu.
  5. If the applicant has to cancel a registration, the scholarship money will not be applied to the next semester at the Institute, however, the applicant may reapply.
  6. Applicants chosen to participate in the program will be required to cover the cost of the materials (textbooks and any other supplemental materials) and the remaining  cost of the tuition.
  7. Up to four scholarships may be awarded per applicant per academic year, each under separate application.

Applications

The Scholarship Application includes information on how to submit the application and the supporting materials required. Scholarship applications must be received at least 2 weeks before the start of the course.