The 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship application is now available on the Steuben County Community Foundation’s (SCCF) website, at https://steubenfoundation.org/lilly-endowment-community-scholarship/. The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program (LECSP) provides funding for otherwise unreimbursed full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year. The special allocation may cover the costs for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.
Any graduating high school senior who has resided in Steuben County the past three years and is graduating by the end of June 2022 is eligible to apply. All application materials, including references and additional forms, will be submitted through the online application portal by September 7, 2021 at 11:59 pm. In Steuben County, a committee of community volunteers work with staff at SCCF to administer the local nomination process. Applications will be evaluated on, but not limited to, the following criteria: academic performance, after school activities, community service, work experience, and an essay. Three finalists will be nominated by SCCF, and their names will be submitted to ICI for final selection of the recipients. Scholarship recipients will be notified in December.
Each year, SCCF is impressed by the academic and community achievements of students who apply. “This scholarship can provide a life-changing opportunity for a student who has demonstrated hard work in their academics and strong community involvement,” said Jacqui Gentile, SCCF Program Officer.
Lilly Endowment created LECSP for the 1997-1998 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling more than $424 million. Nearly 5,000 Indiana students have received Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships since the program’s inception. In 2022, the LECSP will provide 143 scholarships statewide and 1 scholarship in Steuben County.
The primary purposes of LECSP are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
All other donor established scholarships administered through SCCF will be available later in the fall.
