Scholarships are available from Mensa, a worldwide society for intellectual information exchange.

Northern Michigan Mensa is offering a local scholarship of $500. The American Mensa Education and Research Foundation also annually makes available more than $60,000 in regional and national scholarship funds. The scholarship competition ends January 15, 2009, and all essays must be submitted by that date to be eligible for consideration.

Prizes are awarded based on essays written by the applicants regarding their academic and career goals. Applicants must be citizens or residents of the United States and planning to enroll in a degree program at an accredited institution of higher learning in fall 2009.

Membership in Mensa is not a requirement in this scholarship contest, nor is there any age requirement.

For more details, those interested should go online to www.nmm.us.mensa.org and click on Scholarships, or applicants may telephone (231) 275-6735 for more information.