Essential Visionaries Scholarship

The Essential Visionaries Scholarship Fund has been established to assist students seeking a degree or certificate in Education, Counseling, Psychology or Nursing in college or vocational school programs.

This program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.

Applicants to the Essential Visionaries Scholarship Fund must:

• Be high school seniors or graduates or current college undergraduates in the United States (U.S.)
• Plan to enroll in part-time or full-time undergraduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college or university or vocational-technical school in the U.S. for the entire upcoming academic year
• Be seeking a degree or certificate* in Education, Counseling; Psychology or Nursing
• Have a minimum grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent)
• If you change your course of study from Education, Counseling; Psychology or Nursing you may become ineligible for this program.

*Certification programs must be through an accredited institution and must run on a standard academic semester calendar. Certification programs must be a minimum of one semester/term in length and applicants must be enrolled at the time Awards are disbursed in August.

Individuals granted deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) are eligible and are encouraged to apply.

Awards

• If selected as a recipient, students attending vocational-technical or two-year institutions will receive an award of up to $5,000; students attending four-year institutions will receive an award of up to $10,000. If a recipient transfers schools, the award will be adjusted accordingly based upon the new school type.

• Awards may be renewed for up to four additional years or until a bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first.

• Renewal is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance (maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale) and continued enrollment in an eligible field of study.

• Awards are for undergraduate study only.

Notification
All applicants will be notified in March.

Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of the sponsor. Payment is made in August.

Selection of Recipients

• Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:
• Academic record
• Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
• Work experience
• A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
• Unusual personal or family circumstances
• Essay
• Financial need will be considered; recipients must demonstrate need.
• Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America; the sponsor plays no part in the selection.
• Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients and all applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

As part of your application, you must upload the following:

• A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
• Student name
• School name
• Grades
• Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
• Copy of the first two pages of the most recently filed IRS Form 1040 used for the Financial Information section of the application. Please black out all social security numbers and bank account information.
• Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.