The Community Achievement Scholarship (CAS) is a Concordia College award in Moorhead, Minnesota, for first-generation students from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds who aim to finish a four-year degree.
Recipients study full time on campus with tuition, housing and food covered, plus mentoring, summer leadership preparation sessions and a peer cohort. Applicants send a video and an essay; finalists attend a selection event.
Benefits & funding
- Full tuition up to 17 credits a semester, a Standard Double Room, and up to the All Access or Platinum meal plan.
- Valid for 8 consecutive semesters of full-time study; keeping it needs Satisfactory Academic Progress and a yearly FAFSA/Dream Act filing showing need.
- Not covered: required fees, books, off-campus living, summer school, study-away extras. Recipients pay a $2,000 Community Achievement Program Fee.
- Recipients are expected to start the following fall.
Eligibility
- First-generation: parents or immediate family have not completed a four-year degree.
- Admitted to Concordia for Fall 2027 by Feb. 1, 2027.
- Financial need shown through the 2027-28 FAFSA; the Minnesota Dream Act Application may replace the FAFSA. Applicants who can file neither should confirm with the college.
- No GPA minimum; any major.
- The current page names no home area; a 2023 college news story described CAS as open to Fargo-Moorhead-area students.
Application process
- 1Apply for admission and be accepted for Fall 2027.
- 2Submit the online CAS form: a 3–5 minute video on your community and a 500-word essay on hardships or your life story.
- 3File the 2027-28 FAFSA or Minnesota Dream Act Application — all three by Feb. 1, 2027.
- 4Finalists attend the Scholarship Finalist Event; decisions rest on the video and an interview.
Program timeline
Application deadline
Feb 1, 2027
Finalists announced
Mid-Feb 2027
Scholarship Finalist Event
Mar 19–20, 2027
Recipients announced
Late Mar–early Apr 2027
Studies begin
Fall 2027