Each fall semester, the college selects up to 18 students (two per campus/center) to represent NPC on the statewide All-Arizona Academic Team. This honor provides a full tuition waiver scholarship to any of the three Arizona state universities, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University or the University of Arizona for up to 60 credits to complete his or her bachelor's degree. The tuition waiver begins the FALL semester following the spring awards luncheon. There are provisions for part-time enrollment to allow time to complete the 60 credits.
Recipients additionally receive a one-time award from NPC ranging from $500 to $1,000. The application for this scholarship becomes available in early fall, with the deadline for submission around mid-October.
Read our story about last year's team in NPC's Career Focus magazine.
All of Arizona's public community colleges select members for their All-Arizona Academic Teams who are then eligible to compete for additional scholarships, awarded by the national office of Phi Theta Kappa, as part of the All-USA Academic Team. In addition, each year Phi Theta Kappa chooses one student from all of the Arizona community college teams for the New Century Scholar award. PTK membership is not required to apply for the All-Arizona Academic Team scholarship.
DEADLINE: You must have your application and ALL supporting documents submitted online by Friday, Oct. 18, to allow NPC time to review your entry before the national deadline.
Questions Contact Michael Colwell at (928) 524-7635. | email
Please review the eligibility criteria carefully. If you do not meet all the criteria, you will be disqualified from participating in the NPC All-AZ Academic Team, the All-USA Community College Academic Team, the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team, the New Century Scholars Program, or any All-State Community College Academic Teams.
State law prohibits the Arizona Board of Regents from awarding scholarships/tuition waivers to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students.
To be eligible, a nominee:
- Must be enrolled in at least six credits at your community college through December 2018.
- Must have a cumulative college-level GPA of 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for all coursework completed in the last five years (fall 2014-present), regardless of institution attended. If the student has attended more than one school, transcripts may be recalculated to determine the cumulative GPA for all college-level coursework taken. GPA is evaluated at the point of application and the student must maintain a 3.50 or higher GPA through the fall 2018 semester to remain eligible.
- Students must be on track to earn an associate or a bachelor's degree (or the equivalent of a U.S. associate or bachelor's degree). Students must have a minimum of 36 semester (or 48 quarter) college-level credits completed at or transferred to a community college by December 31, 2018, and 48 semester (or 72 quarter), college-level credits by August 31, 2019. Students must have a minimum of 30 semester (or 45 quarter), college-level credit hours completed at a community college in the past five years. (Courses must be college level. Developmental or remedial coursework, such as pre-algebra or basic writing, will be removed when determining number of credits, as well as cumulative GPA.)
- To be considered for the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team, the student must be enrolled at least part-time at a two-year or four-year college for the fall 2018 semester. Proof of enrollment will be requested.
- Must not have previously been nominated for the All-USA Community College Academic Team or the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team.
- The student must hold temporary or permanent residency in the country of the community college the student is attending or possess a visa considered appropriate by the college. Please see the student application for acceptable documents verifying proof of citizenship.
- Students who attend community college in the United States do not need to be a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Students attending community colleges outside of the U.S. need to be members of Phi Theta Kappa and may only apply for the New Century Scholars program. Both students attending in the U.S. and internationally should submit the All-USA Community College Academic Team/Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team nomination form and materials.
- Must have a community college record free of suspension, probation or other serious disciplinary action. Nominee must not have a criminal record, or if a convicted felon must have all conditions of sentencing, including probation, completed.
Important considerations for nominees:
- Nominees must realize anything they submit in the nomination form could be made public through the media. Students must consider carefully the possibility that, should they win, publicity about their accomplishments – work with support groups or advocacy, for example – could carry implications about their personal lives or immigration status. In fairness to all nominees, and because winners' forms are used as the basis for news coverage of the teams, contents are subject to rigorous fact-checking.
- All nominees must send official transcripts reflecting fall 2018 grades and credits by January 15, 2019. Failure to submit these transcripts will result in the application being eliminated from consideration of national scholarships.
- The program seeks to honor outstanding students who also represent the range of students found on American community college campuses. Traditional, non‐traditional and early start students all have been named to the All-USA Community College Academic Team/Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team. Those seeking associate degrees, as well as those intending to earn a bachelor's degree, are eligible.
- Transcripts are evaluated when a student's application is received. The student’s GPA is evaluated at the point of admission. Remedial or developmental courses are removed and are not counted toward the student's required total courses or toward the cumulative GPA. If there is a question about the student's grades or credits, and whether or not they are eligible, it may benefit the student to have the transcript evaluated prior to submission.
- Judging criteria include academic excellence and intellectual rigor, leadership and service, and how students have extended their education beyond the classroom to benefit society. It is a merit award based on what students have done while attending community college, rather than a need-based scholarship.
- The centerpiece of the nomination is the 500-word essay describing the nominee's most significant endeavor while attending community college, in which the student extended his or her community college education to benefit the school, community or society. Students who have demonstrated leadership and initiative in service learning, who contributed to scholarly research, or who have made lasting contributions to your campus or community may make excellent candidates. If endeavors are not yet complete, they must be far enough along so that the nominee and adviser can discuss the specifics of work done thus far.
- The program is an "academic" team, so the student's academic record is important. Judges look at the overall academic record and how well students' courses match their career goals. The form allows students to explain circumstances that may have affected the student transcript, so students with several withdrawals or a temporary drop in grades should not necessarily be ruled out. However, a nominee with more than a couple unexplained withdrawals will not typically advance in competition.
- The discussion questions are meant to give judges a sense of the nominee's background and time commitments outside of school. The program is open to part‐time as well as full-time students, so the answers help the judges place the nominee's accomplishments into context. The questions should not be interpreted to mean students must have overcome obstacles or be somehow disadvantaged in order to be named to the All-USA Community College Academic Team.
- Please note that USA TODAY and Follett Higher Education Group have been granted exclusive press coverage of any winners selected from the All-USA Community College Academic Team nominations. Students named to the All-USA Community College Academic Team are not allowed to be announced publicly until presented at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Annual Convention.
- Please note that all nominees will be required to go through a verification process. College nominators must notify Phi Theta Kappa if a nominee faces any type of disciplinary action during the time between nomination and public awarding at the annual AACC Convention.
- Should you be selected as an All-USA Academic Team Scholar or New Century Scholar, you are expected to attend the recognition program held at the AACC Convention. Your college is responsible for covering your travel and accommodation expenses to attend.
- Nominees need not be members of Phi Theta Kappa.
- The All-Arizona Academic Team is part of a national, All-USA recognition program co-sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, USA Today, and Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of the two-year college.
- In addition, the highest-scoring student in each state in the All-USA Academic Team competition will be named a New Century Scholar and will receive a scholarship of $2,000.
- Community colleges provide each honoree with a cash award and, since 1998, the Arizona Board of Regents has provided a tuition waiver for up to 60 credits to any Arizona public university.
- National rules restrict nominations to two students from each NPC campus & center location, for a possible total of 18 nominees each year.
| Year | NPC Student | Campus | Team Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Ashley Demaria Cassie Dows Rhonda Krouse Tiffani Martin Nicole McConnell Lori Moore Larrilynn Oso Raney Pate McKenna Sargent Austin Stanislawski Susan Thompson Jaden Willis |
LCC |
Third Third Third Second Second Third Third Third Second Third Third Third |
| 2018 | Cuitlahuac Aguilar Chelsey Anchondo Tiana Begay Rosalia Burr Amanda Hatch Breanna Jakary Ashley Jarmillo Tirzah Jessop Robyn Krise Tracy Reidhead Madison St. Hilaire Jeff Whiting |
WMC LCC PDC SPE SCC WMC STJ PDC LCC SPE SCC STJ |
Third Third Third Third First, National Silver Scholar Third Third Third Third Second Second Third |
| 2017 | Edgar Acosta Kimberly Baber Lauren Burson Talaina Fisher Jayden Gubler Barbara Hawkins Nicole Krause Gavin McInelly Sydney Miller Juliet Moreno Amber Shepard Valon Standerfer Teresa Wise |
SCC LCC WRV PDC PDC LCC SPE WMC SPE STJ STJ SCC WMC |
Third Third First Third Third Third Third Third Second Third Third Second Third |
| 2016 | Morgan Black Eloy Carranza,Jr. Mark Crump Rachel Hancock Christine Harper Tristadawn Ison Ashley McLaws Savannah Meritt Trysta Meyer Toni Odom Cary Pearson Erica Pullin Lori Rothlisberger Ted Seipp Ariel Shirley |
PDC WRV SPE SCC WRV WMC LCC LCC STJ STJ SCC HOPI SPE WMC PDC |
Second Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Third First |
| 2015 | Sara Anderson Jennifer DoBell Moira Hamilton Kasey Johnson Charles Manley Ashley McDowell Daniel McGee Kelcee Moore Alfredo Ortiz Lauren Peters Isaac Schimmel Jenna Ché Shockey Laurie Shyann Vance |
WMC PDC WMC WRV SJ SPVL SCC PDC SJ LCC SCC LCC SPVL |
Third Third Second Third Third Third Second Second Third Second Third Second Third |
| 2014 | Stephanie Adams Cody Elliott Karah Flake Michelle Johnson Rachael Murphy Kyle Nowell Julie Peck Christina Scott-Ford Sterling West |
SCC SPVL WMC SJ WMC SCC SJ PDC LCC |
Second Second Third First Second Third Second Second Third |
| 2013 | Rachael Antonio James Brimhall David Ciminski Amanda Crawford Kimberly Fore Beth Harbold Ayla Hayden Tashawna Jones Teresa Keele Emily Kortan Terry Laws Anthony Meza Xu "Shirley" Xie |
WRV SCC SJ SJ PDC WMC PDC LCC LCC SPVL SCC SPVL WMC |
Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Second Second Second Second Third Second |
| 2012 | James Godwin Jill Sartain Nick Chase Melissa Jacob Beverly Cloud Jeremy Hargrove Tyler Holden Zachary Pemberton Barbara Akins Amy Fairbanks Jennifer Lewis |
PDC PDC WMC WMC SCC SCC SJ SJ SPVL SPVL LCC |
Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Third Second Third Third |
| 2011 | Angel Cerritos Douglas Chlarson Hope Francisco Jon Griffith Ryan Orr |
SCC SCC SPVL WMC WMC |
Third Second Second Second Second |
| 2010 | Brittany Michelle Bender Erin Cureton Brandy Hatch |
WMC WMC SCC |
Third Third Third |
| 2009 | Todd S. Butler Nathan Chase |
WMC WMC |
Third Second |
| 2008 | Amy Critser | WMC | First |
| 2007 | Alan France Shavon Desmond Alyssa Jacobsen Rebecca Oplinger Peter Parent David Singer Patty Singer |
WMC LCC WMC LCC PDC PDC SCC |
First, New Century Scholar, All-USA First Team Third Third Third Second Second Third |
| 2006 | Christopher Boblett | WMC | First |
| 2005 | Erin Meelhuysen Rose Oplinger Roxie Roes |
WMC LCC PDC |
Third Second Third |
| 2004 | Brisa Barnett Breanna Daves Ruth Creek-Rhoades Heidi Wiessner |
WMC SCC PDC PDC |
Second Second Second Third |
| 2003 | Sheena B. Barnett Ronald G. Bishop, Jr. |
WMC Heber/WMC |
First Third |
| 2002 | Christine Dao Kimberley Plant |
WMC WMC |
Second Third |
| 2001 | Rusty D. Crandell Jennifer K. Tanner |
Heber/WMC WMC |
Second Second |
| 2000 | Murlin G. Larson Justin R. Simmons L'Erin L. Webb Julie M. Wiessner Kristin D. Wiltbank |
SCC WMC SCC PDC WMC |
First Second Second Second First |
| 1999 | Denise Elizabeth Cloud Deborah S. Lewis Brian J. Mowers Clark D. Rowley Aaron D. Sadler |
PDC WMC PDC SCC LCC |
First Second Third First Third |
| 1998 | Connie Moon Jamin Moore Jeanette Palmer Marcia Stearns |
WMC LCC SCC WMC |
Third Third Third Third |
| 1997 | Carol LaBine Kelli Penrod |
WMC PDC |
Third Third |
| 1996 | Joni Gillespie | PDC | Third |
PTK membership is not required.
- A cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher at ALL institutions in the last 5 years.
- A history of volunteerism at any NPC campus or in their communities.
- Current (fall semester) enrollment in a minimum of 6 credits at an NPC location.
- Be on track to have completed at least 36 credit hours by the end of the fall semester in which you apply, and complete 48 credit hours no later than the end of the following summer semester.
- Be on track to earn an associate's or bachelor's degree.
- Desire to transfer to a four-year state university in Arizona.
While not required, applicants should consider asking an NPC English faculty member to review their essay prior to submission. Betsyann Wilson, executive director of NPC Friends & Family, will also help you strengthen your application's answers, improving your chances to place higher on the academic team and thus receive more scholarship dollars.
The All-Arizona Academic Team is part of a national All-USA recognition program co-sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, USA Today, and Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of the two-year college.
IMPORTANT: PTK members can log-in using their email address and password. Non-PTK members should create their own personal log-in by clicking on the link "sign up for free access" on the right side of the page under "Applying for Scholarships?." Once logged in, click the "Fall Scholarship Application" link in the center of the page. When you get to the "Education" tab select Northland Pioneer College and your primary attendance campus/center from the drop down list. Please note that word counts are restricted on some answers. It is STRONGLY recommended you prepare your answers using a word processing application (such as Word or Open Office) and spell/grammar check BEFORE entering your answers into the online application.
Questions Please contact Michael Colwell at (928) 524-7635. | email
