One Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Will Be Offered in 2011
Lilly Endowment Inc. recently informed the Community Foundation of Switzerland County, Inc. that they will continue the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program for 2011. The significant change is that one Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship will be awarded in Switzerland County in 2011 as opposed to the two that have been awarded for the past several years.
The escalation in the cost of college is the reason for this change. When the scholarship program began in 1998, the average cost of tuition and fees for each Lilly Endowment Community Scholar was just under $50,000 for four years of study. For the 2011 cohort, it is estimated that the average cost per scholar will exceed $106,000.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides full tuition for four years of undergraduate study leading to a baccalaureate degree. It also covers all required fees and up to $800 per year for required books and equipment. Students receiving the scholarship must attend an Indiana public or private college or university accredited by the North Central Association of College and Schools. Going into its fourteenth year, the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program has assisted almost 3,500 Indiana high school graduates in pursuing baccalaureate degrees.
The Community Foundation of Switzerland County, Inc. administers the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program locally. The application process for 2011 will remain the same as it has been in past years. The Foundation’s selection committee will continue to evaluate applicants on academics, financial need, activities (school activities, community service, and work experience), and writing samples. All four of the evaluation criteria will be worth 25% each. The selection committee will also continue to use a blind process to evaluate the applications, meaning committee members will not know whose applications they are evaluating.
The Community Foundation’s selection committee will then submit their recommendation for a recipient to Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI), who makes the final decision on all Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipients. Lilly Endowment, Inc. contracts with them to administer the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program. ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 31 regionally accredited degree granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state.
Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship applications will be available in November and will be posted on both the Community Foundation and Switzerland County High School websites. Anyone having any questions regarding the scholarship may contact the Community Foundation at 812-427-9160 or info@cfsci.org.