04/15/2014

RBS Citizens Financial Group’s TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship® Rewards Students for Community Service Efforts

Citizens Bank, Charter One offering a total of $50,000 in college scholarships to students active in community service – application period begins April 15

PROVIDENCE, RI – To help students manage the cost of college and reward them for their volunteer efforts, RBS Citizens Financial Group (RBSCFG) today announced that it once again is offering the TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship. Now in its fourth year, RBSCFG will award a total of $50,000 in college scholarships to students who demonstrate good citizenship through community volunteerism and leadership.

The application period for the TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship for college will begin on Tuesday, April 15 and run through May 6, 2014 or until 2,000 applications have been received, whichever occurs first. Winners will be announced this summer.

A total of 10 college scholarships of $5,000 each will be awarded to U.S. residents who are 16-years of age or older and are attending or accepted to a federally accredited four-year college, university or graduate program for the Fall 2014 semester, located in one of the following regions:

  • Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont (1 winner)
  • Massachusetts (1 winner)
  • Pennsylvania (1 winner)
  • New York (1 winner)
  • Rhode Island (1 winner)
  • California (1 winner)
  • Florida (1 winner)
  • Ohio and Michigan (1 winner)
  • All other US states not listed above (2 winners)

“The TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship program recognizes and rewards students who are devoting their time and effort to making their communities better places to live,” said Brendan Coughlin, President of Auto and Education Finance, RBS Citizens Financial Group. “We believe in making college education accessible to students, as well as contributing to the health and prosperity of our communities, and look forward to seeing this year’s applicants and the contributions they are making in their local neighborhoods.”

Applicants to the TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship program are asked to submit an essay of no more than 500 words that describes their community volunteerism and leadership. They must also provide two references that are directly connected to their community involvement. For full details, rules and to apply, go to citizensbank.com/scholarship or charterone.com/scholarship. Information about the TruFit Good Citizen Scholarship program can also be found on the Citizens Bank Facebook and Charter One Facebook pages beginning April 15, 2014.

This year, RBSCFG has increased the average award amount to $5,000 per student to increase the impact for the 10 recipients. In 2013, one winner received $5,000; four winners each received $2,500; and 35 winners each received $1,000.

As part of its commitment to students and to making education more affordable, RBSCFG offers the TruFit Student Loan® product to students who live or attend school in the continental U.S. The TruFit Student Loan is a private student loan available with a fixed or variable rate and flexible repayment terms, giving students the choice to select the option that best fits their needs. Plus, borrowers who lock in a TruFit Student Loan between April 15 and June 30 will receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate discount for the life of their loan.

The bank also recently introduced the Education Refinance Loan, to enable borrowers to refinance or consolidate their private student loans at a competitive rate with flexible repayment terms.

Looking for more information on financial aid and the student loan application process? RBSCFG offers online tips and tools to help students prepare for, save for and finance college, including information on free aid like grants and scholarships and federal loans.

About RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a $122 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and through its subsidiaries has approximately 1,400 branches, over 3,500 ATMs and more than 18,000 colleagues. It operates a branch network in 12 states and has non-branch retail and commercial offices in more than 30 states. Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. RBSCFG is owned by RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). RBSCFG’s website is citizensbank.com.