Alliant Energy Foundation offering community service scholarships

Up to $25,000 will be awarded to students throughout Alliant Energy communities

The Alliant Energy Foundation is offering scholarships to recognize outstanding community leadership in young people and help first-time college students attain their academic goals. Up to 25 $1,000 scholarships will be awarded in the spring of 2009 through the Alliant Energy Foundation Community Service Scholarship Program.

“The Alliant Energy Foundation places a high priority on supporting education and the future development of the communities we serve throughout Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota,” said Marthea Fox, Alliant Energy Foundation Executive Director. “We are proud to offer these scholarships to benefit talented young adults and their families.”

To be eligible, scholarship applicants must have participated in a leadership role in community service work or volunteer activities. They must also meet the following criteria:

* Be age 24 or under;
* Be a dependent child of a current customer, or be a current customer, of one of Alliant Energy’s utility subsidiaries (Interstate Power and Light or Wisconsin Power and Light);
* Reside within the Alliant Energy service territory at the time of application; and
* Plan to enroll in, for the first time, beginning in the fall of 2009, a full-time undergraduate course of study at an accredited two- or four-year college or university, or vocational-technical school located within Iowa, Wisconsin, or Minnesota.

A scholarship committee carefully reviews each application in search of the most deserving recipients. Judges consider several criteria, including the applicant’s leadership experience and community service or volunteer activities; academic grade point average; standardized test scores; and the content of a 300-word or less essay submission. Scholarship awards are for one year only and are limited to undergraduate study.

“Our goal is to reach out to a wide variety of students that show leadership in the activities they undertake and quality in the choices they make,” added Fox. “Today’s young people illustrate their promise in many ways and we want to help them to enjoy continued success. We are pleased to provide scholarships to get them started on the next chapter of their education.”

Complete details about the Alliant Energy Foundation Community Service Scholarship Program, including a downloadable application form, are available online at alliantenergy.com/foundationscholarship. Applications are being accepted from December 1, 2008 through February 16, 2009. Scholarship recipients will be announced in May 2009.

Employees of Alliant Energy Corporation, Scholarship America, their subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies and their immediate family (spouses, parents, children or siblings and their spouses) and persons living in the same household of such employees, who are employed at the time of application are ineligible to receive a scholarship.

This is the fifth consecutive year that the Alliant Energy Foundation has offered community service scholarships. The Foundation also provides nearly 70 other scholarships annually through various higher educational institutions.