Groups pledge to aid education of those with relatives killed in terror attacks

By ARLENE LEVINSON
AP National Writer

An education foundation pledged $3 million Monday to provide college scholarships for the spouses and children of those who perished or were disabled in the terrorist attacks.

The effort is among several intended to look after the education of victims' families.

The Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund was created by the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education to aid undergraduate education of financially needy survivors.

"The devastating loss of Sept. 11 will affect thousands of families for years to come," Lumina Chairman Edward McCabe said in a statement. "Education is a vital way to triumph over life's obstacles."

Lumina is giving $2 million outright and another $1 million in matching funds to encourage individual donations. The organization also hopes to raise money from corporations and other groups.

A private organization, Lumina sponsors research and projects to encourage education past high school. It was created with sale proceeds when Sallie Mae, a leading private lender of student loans, bought most of loan-servicer USA Group, at that time a nonprofit company.

Last week, the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation said it would give $10,000 in scholarship bonds for children whose parents were killed in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

Lindsey Roberts, a student at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., is leading a fund-raising drive to one day provide full tuition to the child of a rescue worker killed when the World Trade Center was destroyed.

The school of medicine at Marshall University, in Huntington, W. Va., is creating a scholarship in memory of a 1995 graduate, Dr. Paul Ambrose, who died in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

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On the Net:

Lumina Scholarship fund: www.familiesoffreedom.org/

Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation: www.mc-lef.org

AP-WS-09-17-01 1522EDT