Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) has created two new scholarships for female students who graduate from Saint Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville, Ind. By creating these new scholarships, which are valued at $11,000 and $20,000 per year for four years, SMWC hopes to make private college education more affordable for Saint Theodore Guerin High School graduates.

“In these challenging economic times, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College remains committed to making private higher education affordable,” said SMWC President David G. Behrs, Ph.D. “We are proud to offer these scholarships to the graduates of Saint Theodore Guerin High School , a school that not only carries the name of our College’s foundress, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, but a school that also shares our mission of serving students from diverse backgrounds and preparing them to be tomorrow's leaders.”

The new Saint Theodore Guerin Scholarships are valued at $11,000 a year and will be applied towards the cost of attendance for female graduates of Saint Theodore Guerin High School who are admitted and enroll in the campus-based program at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. The scholarships, which are academically renewable for four years, can be combined with federal need-based financial aid.

A second scholarship, the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and Saint Theodore Guerin High School President’s Scholarship, is a $20,000 scholarship that will be awarded to a female graduate from Saint Theodore Guerin High School who exemplifies the character and academic achievement of the ideal student who would support the mission of both Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and Saint Theodore Guerin High School and the life work of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. Students interested in applying for this scholarship must submit a President’s Scholarship Application and a 500-word essay by Feb. 1.

Founded in 2004, Saint Theodore Guerin High School, has twice been named by Catholic High School Honor Roll as one of the nation's Top 50 Catholic High Schools. A four-year college preparatory school, Guerin Catholic focuses its curriculum and teaching methods on holiness, honor, servant leadership and excellence.

The Most Rev. William L. Higi, Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Ind., has said that he chose Saint Mother Theodore Guerin as the school's namesake in part to spread her story and her significant role in the establishment of a Catholic community in the state. The school does its part in making Guerin more known to its students as well. In its first few years of existence, it has already made a tradition of taking each freshman class to the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods campus so they can walk the grounds and hear more about the life and works of Guerin, who founded the Sisters of Providence and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and in 1840.

Today, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, the oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women in the United States, thrives by offering a rich liberal arts education, scholarships and financial aid opportunities to make college affordable, individual attention, a value-centered education in a Catholic tradition, and a wide variety of student leadership activities. In fact, both Princeton Review and U.S.News & World Report rank SMWC as one of the Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the Midwest.

For more information about the new Saint Theodore Guerin High School Scholarships, contact the SMWC Office of Admission by email at smwcadms@smwc.edu or by phone at 812-535-5106 or 1-800-926-SMWC. More information about Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College can be found online at www.smwc.edu. More information about Saint Theodore Guerin High School can be found at www.guerincatholic.org.