APGFCU Scholarship Competition Rules

APGFCU is committed to helping the communities of Harford County, Cecil County, Baltimore County and Baltimore City achieve, prosper and grow.

APGFCU believes in the importance of education as a path to improving economic and social conditions. We encourage thrift in savings and provide education regarding the wise and responsible use of credit. Current APGFCU members in good standing who meet the eligibility requirements below are encouraged to apply for our annual scholarship.

Questions? Call 410-893-7359 or email us at [email protected].

Eligibility:

• Applicant must be a current APGFCU member in good standing AND be either a/an:
  • High school student anticipating a Spring 2026 graduation
  • Continuing student of a college, trade school or a certificate program in 2026
  • Adult returning to a college, trade school or a certificate program in 2026
• This scholarship does not apply to students in post-graduate programs nor to payment of student loans.

Application Requirements:

1. The deadline to complete and submit an application is February 15, 2026.
2. Applicants must complete the APGFCU Scholarship Application available from our website.
3. Applicants have three options to respond to the question below: original essay (400 words maximum), original 60-second video or original photo with caption.

Rules and Regulations:

Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union Scholarship Contest Official Rules

OPEN TO MEMBERS OF APGFCU

1. CONTEST OVERVIEW: The Sponsor, Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union (“APGFCU” or “Sponsor”) is challenging Participants to showcase their creativity, literary, drafting, video or photographic skills in responding to the annual essay Contest Topic. Participants will be required to log in to register their participation and to upload their original creative works (the “Entry”). Winners will be selected by a volunteer Judging Panel. Winners will receive financial awards in the form of scholarships only.

2. CONTEST TOPIC: The 2026 Contest Topic is:

• Financial literacy is a lifelong journey. At APGFCU, we believe in guiding our members toward smart, responsible decisions that enrich their lives.

  Share a moment when you learned an important financial lesson. How did it shape your habits or mindset, and how do you plan to use that knowledge to build a better future—for yourself and your community?

• Contest Participants may respond to the Contest Topic in one of three ways:

  • By original written essay (400 words maximum);
  • By original 60-second video; or
  • By original photo with caption.

  Only one entry, received during the Contest Period, will be accepted from any Participant. Applications will be evaluated, without regard to financial need, on the basis of the following criteria.

  • Essays:Content, originality, spelling and grammar.
  • Videos:Content, originality, video and audio quality.
  • Picture:Content, originality, depicts Contest Topic/core value, and technical quality.

3. ELIGIBILITY: The APGFCU-Sponsored Scholarship Contest (the “Contest”) is open to current APGFCU members in good standing who are high school students 18 years of age or younger anticipating a Spring 2026 graduation, or a continuing student of a college, trade school or a certificate program in 2026, or an adult returning to a for-credit college, trade school or a certificate program in 2026. This scholarship does not apply to students in post-graduate programs nor to payment of student loans.

   All Participants must provide APGFCU with proof of admission from the intended school where the scholarship award is to be applied, as the scholarships will be awarded in check form, payable to the recipient and school.

   All entries by any minor (less than 18 years old as of the date of Entry submission) must be accompanied by a signature by a parent or guardian, agreeing to the Terms hereof on behalf of the minor.

4. Employees, directors and officers of Sponsor and their respective immediate families (spouse, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wards, daughters or sons and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household of such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win.

5. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. By entering, Participants understand and agree to all these Official Rules.

5. SELECTION OF WINNERS: The selection of winning entries is determined by a panel of independent volunteer graders (the “Judging Panel”), without participation or direction of the Sponsor. Sponsor’s program participation in the Contest selection process is limited to establishing the essay Contest Topic, selection of volunteer judges, publicity of the Contest, and funding, presentation and publication of winners and winning entries.

6. HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST: Participants must complete an APGFCU Scholarship Application available from the APGFCU website.

7. CONTEST PERIOD/ AWARD TIMING: The Contest begins on January 2, 2026, and ends on February 15, 2026 (“Contest Period”). All Contest Entries must be submitted and received by the Sponsor before the end of the Contest Period. Scholarship winners will be notified by e-mail no later than April 1st and awarded at APGFCU’s Annual Meeting on April 23, 2026. All tax responsibilities by reason of any award shall be the sole responsibility of the award recipient.

8. REQUIREMENTS OF ENTRIES: Contest Entries will be disqualified if they contain, as determined in the sole discretion of the Judging Panel any content that: (i) contains any personal identification, such as personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses; (ii) plagiarizes or infringes upon any person’s personal, intellectual or proprietary rights; (iii) is sexually explicit or suggestive or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group; profane or pornographic; contains nudity; or (iv) communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which the Sponsor wishes to associate.

9. By submitting an Entry, each Participant acknowledges and agrees that his/her Entry shall constitute an irrevocable permanent intellectual property use and ownership right in by Sponsor, as described herein. Participants, however, shall have the right to use any Entry for any purpose related to any scholastic entrance application or other purpose consistent with the furtherance of Participant’s educational objectives.

10. By participating in the Contest and submitting an Entry, each Participant represents and warrants i) that the work submitted is original, ii) that it complies with these Official Rules, iii) that the Entry has not been previously published, iv) that the Entry does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any other party. In addition, by submitting an Entry, the entrant warrants and represents that he/she consents to the submission and use of the Entry in the Contest and to its use as otherwise set forth in these Official Rules.

11. GENERAL: By participating, each Participant agrees: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Judging Panel, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Contest, and not subject to challenge or dispute; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless all Panel Judges, and Sponsor and their respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents, the judges, and representatives and their affiliates of the foregoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) and their respective affiliates from any and all claims or damages resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from Participant’s participation in the Contest; (c) to release, discharge and hold harmless the Released Parties and their respective affiliates from any and all claims, actions, suits, losses, costs, expenses or other damages or liability whatsoever (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of investigation) arising out of, attributable to or resulting from Participant’s breach of a representation or warranty contained in these Rules or based upon an allegation that any Entry (or a portion thereof) infringes any copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right of a third party; and (d) to the use of his/her name, voice, performance, Contest Entry, image and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Sponsor and its designees, without compensation or additional consents from Participant.

12. OWNERSHIP/USE OF CONTEST ENTRIES: By entering this Contest, and to the extent allowed by law, Participants (i) agree, that all Contest Entries submitted (whether acceptable/eligible or not, regardless of the form they take, and including, without limitation, any and all copyrights, trademarks, contract and licensing rights, moral rights or “droit moral” and other intellectual property and proprietary rights in Contest Entries) are irrevocably transferred to, assigned to, and conveyed to Sponsor and will be owned exclusively by Sponsor which may license all such rights to others (collectively “Licensees”), (ii) grant Sponsor and Licensees the absolute right and permission to edit, modify, cut, rearrange, add to, delete from, reproduce, encode, store, transmit, produce, publish, rent, lease, distribute (directly or indirectly through multiple tiers), post, broadcast, publicly perform or display, adapt, exhibit and/or otherwise use or reuse or exploit (without limitation as to when or to the number of times used) and use the content of and elements embodied in the Contest Entries and the Contest Entries themselves in perpetuity in any and all media.

13. MISCELLANEOUS: Released Parties are not responsible for late, lost, damaged, inaccurate, delayed, misdirected, incomplete, undeliverable, destroyed or stolen Contest Entries or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of Contest Entries, the tabulation of votes, the cancellation or postponement of any dates set forth in the Official Rules of prize presentation, the announcement of the prizes, or in any Contest-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest.

14. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK ANY AND ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

15. Should any portion of the Contest be, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, compromised for any reason whatsoever, including but not limited to virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness, consideration or proper play, or submission of Contest Entries, or if Contest is unable to run as planned for any other reason, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest.

16. CHOICE OF LAW: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of Participant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of Maryland, USA.