Traditional Scholarships
We have more than 115 scholarship funds from which we annually award over $600,000 to 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?
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.
Seeking higher education
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.
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.
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.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, visit our online scholarship portal and complete the Traditional Scholarship Application. Scholarship opportunities will be recommended to you based on your answers to questions within the application. You will need to create an account the first time you apply.
Application Opens: December 15
Application Deadline: March 1 at 4:30 p.m.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
- File your FAFSA and obtain a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR) containing your name and Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) number. (You can skip this step if you are only applying for scholarships for which need is not an eligibility requirement.)
- Obtain a copy of your most recent transcript (whether it be from college or high school) or a GED certificate.
- Obtain a copy of your SAT or ACT scores if those scores are not a part of the transcript you provided.
- Have a head/shoulder photo that you can upload. This photo may be published if you win a scholarship. The photo should not have anyone else in it.
- Obtain a copy of your birth certificate or proof of citizenship/legal residency (required for some but not all scholarships).
FAQ
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.
Additional scholarships are available through other foundations and organizations for which you may qualify. The Questa Foundation has provided a scholarship database that provides a list of those resources at the link below.
Application & Deadlines
Non-Traditional Scholarships: Open Deadline
Traditional Scholarships: Deadline: March 1 @ 4:30 p.m., Application to open December 16 (was due to open Dec. 15 but date had to be pushed back due to technical difficulties. Thank you for your patience.)
Lilly Endowment Community Scholars: Deadline: September 15 @ 4:30 p.m., Application to open August 1