LEWISTON — To help boost the number of Androscoggin County adults with college degrees, there’s a new scholarship for adults who may be juggling college, families and jobs.

The Musgrave Fund Scholarship, given through College for ME-Androscoggin in partnership with the Maine Communication Foundation, is for nontraditional students.

The fund will award $30,000 in scholarships.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” said Joan Macri of College for ME-Androscoggin, which has a mission of encouraging and supporting more adults going back to college. “It’s really hard to find scholarships that are not for graduating seniors.” Most ask for recommendations from the applicant’s high school principal, which can be hard to come by for an adult out of high school a while.

Over the next three years, the Musgrave scholarships will give five students $1,000 a semester.

“It would pay for two courses at Central Maine Community College,” Macri said. “At the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College it would pay for one course plus books.”

For someone who can only afford one course a semester, “this will let you take two,” Macri said. “This will help those people who don’t have extra money lying around.”

The hope is the scholarships will avoid students taking out more loans. Area colleges have said they won’t reduce financial aid to students awarded the Musgrave scholarships, Macri said.

To qualify, adults must live in Androscoggin County, have lived in Maine for five or more years, need the money and be serious about their education.

Androscoggin County needs more adults with degrees to create more quality jobs, Macri said.

“We’re really after those adults who are slowly getting their degrees, or thinking about returning,” she said. Degree-holding job candidates have improved opportunities in the kind of work they can gain. High-end companies looking to locate may bypass Androscoggin County after reading education rate statistics.

According to American Community Survey statistics on the U.S. Census site, in 2009 Androscoggin County had 26.3 percent of adults with a college degree, compared with 35 percent in Maine, and 39.1 percent in the Northeast.

Meanwhile, there are nearly 14,000 Androscoggin County adults who have some college, but have not completed a degree, Macri said.

“We already have the work ethic,” Macri said. “If we’re going to have an economy that is strong, we need an educated work force. We have to get ourselves looking stronger.”

The Musgrave Scholarship is a vote of confidence from the Maine Community Foundation in how College for ME-Androscoggin provides support for college-bound adults, Macri said.

MCF was impressed with how College for ME-Androscoggin helps students “dip their toe in and get ready to go back to school,” said Cherie Galyean of the Maine Community Foundation. “We like the population they’re trying to reach. It meshes well with our goals for the fund.”

The deadline for applying for the Musgrave Scholarship is Dec. 12. For an application: http://www.collegeformeandroscoggin.org/adults/money-for-college/scholarships/

College banquet set for Friday

AUBURN — This year’s sixth annual College for ME-Androscoggin awards luncheon will be held at noon Friday, Dec. 2, at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Several students will be honored for pursuing their education “while overcoming enormous barriers,” said the nonprofit’s spokeswoman, Joan Macri. Their “remarkable stories” will be shared to celebrate and inspire.

Attending with Macri will be two students, an older woman taking her first college course and a younger woman working on her GED.

The luncheon will also honor student advocates and businesses that support students.

“We have been blessed with committed partners” who have provided steady support, Macri said.

For more information: www.collegeformeandroscoggin.org