Scholarships
Scholarships – The search for scholarships and the application process can be time consuming, but the payoff can be huge! Imagine if you spend 10 hours working on 10 scholarship applications. Even if you only earn one $500 scholarship for 10 hours of work, it still amounts to a payoff of $50 per hour for the time invested.
Scholarships can be divided into 3 general categories: Academic/Merit Scholarships, Departmental Scholarships, and Private Scholarships.
Academic/Merit scholarships are awarded by each college institution based on the qualifications of your school application. These typically include a percentage off the school tuition, and can sometimes include other benefits as well.
Departmental Scholarships are money that each department has to distribute among students who enroll in a particular program or major at that school. These require separate application and can be found typically within your department's web pages. These scholarship applications are typically due by February 1st so don't wait until you have finalized your school choice!
Private Scholarships include all other scholarships. Individual donors, organizations, companies, etc. who are interested, can create a scholarship fund. These groups/individuals determine the eligibility requirements, deadlines, winners, etc. Many private scholarship opportunities are listed on each high school's scholarship page, usually located under counseling. Others can be found on scholarship search engines such as the ones listed below.
Boost your scholarship chances by building a strong community service resume. The following organizations can help you find local opportunities to volunteer your time and build a record of service that can help you get a scholarship:
*Please refer to your counselors if you have any questions regarding available scholarships. And periodically check your JATC advisory class for any announcements regarding specific scholarships.
Search Engines
Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund
Complete Scholarships Database
University Websites for Scholarship Applications
Adobe Design Circle Scholarship
This is an incredible opportunity for students who are headed to college next year. We would appreciate your partnership in spreading the word now and throughout Jan/Feb to create visibility for this scholarship, focused on cultivating more diversity in the design industry. To help reach untapped youth communities and foster more diversity in the design industry, the Design Circle scholarship will do just that: we are awarding 10 annual college scholarships -- up to $25,000 per year, for each year of the recipient’s undergraduate education (up to four years or $100,000). Application: https://www.iie.org/AdobeDesign
For more information contact Bridget McNamara, [email protected] or Kristina Yamada, [email protected]
Prior to filling out the CTE Scholarships and Tuition Awards application, please review the application questions that will require more consideration when filling out the application.
- If you participated in a Work-Based Learning (WBL) experience, be able to provide the company name, company address, and supervisor's name. Describe how your WBL experience prepared you for your future CTE Career Pathway goals. Please include positive and negative experiences, and duties and responsibilities Schools and business internships are the focus
- If you participated in a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) during high school, explain what leadership and workplace skills you developed and explain how it benefited you in your career preparation. For example, workplace skills could include accountability, communication, critical thinking, dependability, problem solving, teamwork, etc. [4 Points Possible]SkillsUSA
- What other leadership, citizenship, and/or service experiences did you participate in during high school (grades 9-12)? [4 Points Possible] CS Honor Society
- Outline and discuss your educational and occupational timeline and plan. [4 Points Possible]
- Reflecting on your high school years (grades 9-12), how did CTE courses you completed prepare you for life after high school? What advantages did they provide for your college and career plans? [2 Points Possible]
- What advice would you offer to future students about taking CTE courses during high school? [2 Points Possible]
- Was there an educator (teacher, counselor, administrator) who was especially influential in your career choice? If so, who? What did they do to help you? [2 Points Possible]
- Make sure students have ALL documents needed PRIOR to filling out the application. Students will need to complete the application in one session, meaning they are not able to save their progress and finalize later. It would be wise if students had all documentation saved to a folder on the desktop or a storage device. This will allow for easy upload to the application. The documents required for the application are:
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- Signed USBE Media Release https://www.schools.utah.gov/file/99e340fb-6fba-4140-907e-3e8aa8f281e0
- Letter of Recommendation from a CTE teacher
- Letter of Recommendation from another teacher, counselor, administration, etc.
- CTE Career Pathway https://www.schools.utah.gov/cte/pathways All Students complete the Web Development Pathway
- Signed, unofficial transcript with all CTE courses highlighted Parchment.com
- All CTE skill certifications and industry certifications. Please have all scanned in
- All applications are due electronically on January 27, 2023
Application Scoring
CTE scholarships are competitive. CTE scholarships and awards are based on total points, and every point counts. Make every effort to respond to each prompt to the best of your ability. Distinguish yourself from your peers by highlighting the experiences that helped you prepare for college-level study in your chosen career.
Strong scores are usually the result of some degree of discussion and reflection prior to filling out the application. Your response must be your original work. Consider developing a few rough drafts and having a parent, teacher, or school counselor review them and provide feedback prior to completing the scholarship application.
The highest scores are given to applicants whose responses contain multiple, directly related examples. The content of each response will strongly support the applicant’s qualifications for a scholarship. Responses will be clearly written and concise. A professional tone and style will be evident in your writing. Content that is unstructured, disjointed, or contains pervasive errors in mechanics, usage, spelling, and/or grammar will not score well.