New Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship to Benefit Health Care Students

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a time when most health care
professions are experiencing significant worker shortages and need is growing,
community colleges and businesses are teaming up to support future graduates
in key health care professions.

This month, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and Phi
Theta Kappa Honor Society, with the generous support of METI and L-3
Communications, Inc., will launch the Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship
Program. This timely initiative is designed to recognize the academic and
leadership accomplishments of students enrolled in registered nursing,
respiratory care or emergency medical service programs offered by regionally
accredited community colleges. Up to twenty-five scholarships of $1,000 each
will be awarded for the 2010 academic year.

The scholarships will target part-time, full-time and international students
who have completed 50 percent of their course work leading toward achieving an
associate degree and who have a demonstrable financial need (certificate
students are not eligible to apply). Candidates do not have to be members of
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society to apply.

The scholarship is named in honor of Frank Lanza, a founder of L-3
Communications -- a global aerospace and defense company -- that produces $15
billion in annual revenues and employs over 66,000 people worldwide. The
scholarship endowment is funded equally by L-3 Communications and Medical
Education Technologies, Inc. (METI), the world's leading producer of medical
simulation products and educational software for health care education. In
creating the endowment, Lou Oberndorf, METI Chairman and CEO and a long-time
friend of Lanza, cited Lanza's visionary leadership and commitment to
charitable causes as inspiration for the program.

Lanza served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Korean War. He was a member
of the board of directors for the Coast Guard Foundation and received the 2003
Distinguished Corporate Leadership award from the Soldiers', Sailors',
Marines' and Airmen's Club. Lanza was also a member of the board of governors
for the Aerospace Industries Association and the American-Italian Cancer
Foundation. A philanthropist, Lanza and his wife supported a variety of
charities through a family foundation.

For more information about the Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship Program, call
601/984.3539. Visit the web sites for Phi Theta Kappa www.ptk.org and AACC
www.aacc.nche.edu for complete requirements and downloadable applications.

Completed applications must be mailed in one packet and be received (not
postmarked) on or before Oct. 15, 2009 at Phi Theta Kappa Headquarters, Attn:
Frank Lanza Memorial Scholarship, 1625 Eastover Drive, Jackson, MS 39211.

Based in Washington, D.C., AACC is the primary advocacy organization for
community colleges at the national level and works closely with directors of
state offices to inform and to affect state policy. AACC represents almost
1,200 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions and more than 11
million students. Community colleges are the largest and fastest-growing
sector of U.S. higher education, enrolling close to half (44 percent) of all
U.S. undergraduates.

Headquartered in Jackson, Miss., Phi Theta Kappa is the largest honor society
in higher education, with 1,250 chapters on college campuses in the 50 U.S.
states, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the
United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than two million
students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately
100,000 students inducted annually.

SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges

Norma Kent of American Association of Community Colleges, +1-202-728-0200,
ext. 209