Scholarships
We have more than 100 scholarship funds, from which we annually award over $500,000 to area students. With the exception of a few scholarship funds, the vast majority of our scholarship funds require residency in Kosciusko County, Indiana, or attendance at a high school serving Kosciusko County in order to be eligible. Scholarships can be used for tuition, books and academic fees, but not for room and board. Scholarship payments made for room and board are taxable to the recipient according to the IRS.
Who is Eligible to Apply?
Location
IMPORTANT NOTE: The vast majority of our scholarship funds require residency in Kosciusko County, Indiana, or graduation from a high school serving Kosciusko County in order to be eligible. If you have found our site through a scholarship-finding website or service, such as scholarships.com, and you do not live in Kosciusko County, Indiana, please call us at 574-267-1901 to ask whether or not you are eligible to apply before you begin an application.
Higher Education Only
An eligible applicant can be a current high school senior, high school or home-school program graduate, or have received a GED or TASC certificate. Applicants must be enrolled or planning to enroll in a higher education program for the upcoming academic year. This includes vocational or technical training.
Traditional & Non-Traditional Students
The Traditional Scholarship application (March 15 deadline) is open to both traditional and non-traditional students.
- Traditional students are defined as those who transition straight from high school to college or a vocational/technical program.
- The Community Foundation defines non-traditional students as those who:
- do not immediately continue their education after completing high school or a GED/TASC program, or
- have continued their education but were interrupted for personal or financial reasons that resulted in a break from their education for more than a year.
- Non-traditional students are generally over the age of 20. Non-traditional students can apply for scholarships anytime throughout the year using the Non-Traditional Scholarship Application.
People who are ineligible include:
- Any member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and their “related persons*.”
- Any employee of the Foundation and their related persons.
- Any donor/adviser or substantial contributor to the Fund making the award and their related persons.
- Any member of a selection committee for the fund for which they are helping select and their related persons.
*”Related persons” include an individual’s parents, grandparents, great grandparents, spouse, siblings, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and the spouses of all of the above.
For-Profit Colleges
The Community Foundation may not be able to award a scholarship to a student attending a for-profit college, university or trade school.
Determining Financial Need
The majority of our scholarships require financial need as an eligibility factor. This requirement is made by the donor at the time they established the scholarship fund.
The Community Foundation may consider two factors when determining financial need: 1) Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) number, which is issued to you on your Student Aid Report after you file FAFSA, and 2) Your response to a question about need on your application. We will not allow you to receive Community Foundation scholarships in excess of your tuition costs, since our scholarships do not cover room and board.
If you have additional scholarship questions, please contact our program staff or call 574-267-1901.
Helpful Links
A FAFSA—Free Application for Federal Student Aid—form is required for most scholarship applications. If you haven’t yet filled one out, you can do so below.
Application & Deadlines
Non-Traditional Scholarships: Open Deadline
Traditional Scholarships: Deadline: March 15 @ 4:30 p.m., Application to open December 15
Lilly Endowment Community Scholars: Deadline: September 15 @ 4:30 p.m., Application to open August 1