Blue River Community Foundation announces winter scholarship application cycle

Blue River Community Foundation’s winter scholarship application cycle is now open at blueriverfoundation.com.

Scholarships awarded during this cycle will be distributed during the summer of 2025 for the 2025-26 academic year. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15, 2025.

High school students on track to graduate by June 30, 2025, along with current college students, graduate students, and nontraditional students pursuing post-secondary credentials, are encouraged to apply.

A unique feature of BRCF’s application process is that applicants complete one application to qualify for all available scholarships in which they are eligible. Specific criteria, requirements, and application instructions, as well as a list of scholarships, can be found in the BRCF Scholarship Resource Guide for Students on the Foundation’s website under the Scholarships tab.

Current high school seniors who completed an application during BRCF’s summer application cycle, do not have to reapply during this cycle to be considered for BRCF scholarships for which they are eligible.

However, as directed in the application process, completion of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is required. This year due to changes in the FAFSA timeline, all applicants, regardless of the cycle in which they applied, have until Feb. 15, 2025, to email their student aid index (SAI) score to BRCF.

Since 1994, BRCF has invested over $7.9 million in students pursuing post-secondary education. This amount represents over $2.7 million which has been awarded to Shelby County’s 43 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipients and is made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc., as well as, $5.2 million awarded to students from BRCF Scholarship Funds.

This past spring, 203 scholarships were awarded among 140 recipients totaling over $465,000 from over 100 active scholarship funds administered by BRCF. In addition, several new scholarship funds were established at BRCF over the past year, increasing the total award pool for the 2025 cohort to over $500,000.

These scholarship funds are made possible through the generosity of our donors, who recognize the critical need of financial assistance in covering the costs of higher education.

For more information on BRCF’s scholarship application process, please contact Julie Alvis, Communications and Scholarships Director, at 317-392-7955, ext. 102, or jalvis@blueriverfoundation.com.

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