Local high school seniors, college, grad and trade students – teens and adults – are eligible for more than 200 scholarships, all via one app.
Do you know someone in the Fox River Valley area who plans to attend college or trade school next year? Maybe you know an adult who plans to return to school to train for a new career?
If so, tell them that the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley online scholarship application is still open, but the deadline to apply is 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
So don’t wait! The Community Foundation makes the process of applying easy. Students submit one application and are eligible for over 200 different scholarships totaling more than $2 million. To apply, visit cffrv.org/scholarship-program to access the application, and learn about eligibility requirements and the materials needed to apply. Applications are due Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024 by 4 p.m..
Scholarships for the 2024-25 academic year are available exclusively to high school seniors, undergraduate (two-year or four-year schools), graduate, and trade school students who live in Kane and Kendall Counties, including the Greater Aurora Area and the Tri-Cities.
Consider it “support from home,” because each scholarship is conceived and funded by a generous donor also based in the Fox Valley area – individuals, families, local businesses, clubs and associations who want to give back to their community by supporting their fellow residents interested in pursuing higher education. See the full list of last year’s 2023-24 scholarship funds and their recipients here.
Students apply to the Scholarship Program as a whole, not for a particular scholarship, and are considered for any scholarship in which they are eligible. Most are based on financial need. Others reward merit and academic achievement. Some are niche scholarships for specific fields of study, including trade schools. Others are renewable for up to four years.
Each scholarship has criteria developed by the fund’s sponsoring donor to meet their personal charitable objectives. One commonality is that applicants must plan to attend an accredited post-secondary institution within the U.S. on a full-time basis. This can be a two-year or four-year college, graduate school or trade school.
“For 75 years, the Community Foundation has helped individual donors in the Fox Valley custom design funds that fulfill their charitable objectives, including hundreds of scholarships that support local residents,” said Beth Christoffel, Director of Scholarships, Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley.
“Since our founding in 1948, CFFRV has awarded more than $21.6 million in scholarships through funds given by local citizens to enhance and support the quality of life in the Fox River Valley. Last year alone, 450 Fox Valley-area students received more than $2.3 million in locally funded scholarships to be used over four years.”
Although a student may be eligible for several different scholarships, only one scholarship may be received by any one student in a given year, in an effort to help as many individual students as possible.
Applications are reviewed by the CFFRV Scholarship Committee, which consists of local residents who volunteer their time and skills to participate in the review process.
Students who submit applications by the January 31 deadline will receive award decisions in early May 2024.
“The day I received the email from the Community Foundation notifying me that I was awarded the Roger G. Schweitzer 2023 Scholarship was one of the best days of my life. All the stress I had been carrying was instantly relieved as I knew that my lifelong dream was now attainable. Thanks to the Schweitzer Scholarship, I can prove everyone who ever doubted me wrong. I can make my parents proud. I can make my younger self proud. Your investment in my future goals will not be forgotten.” – Belen Salazar, 2023 Community Foundation Scholarship Program recipient
Just a few of the more than 200 individuals, businesses, and organizations who make scholarships possible through the Community Foundation include:
The Fox Valley Marines Detachment 1233 Scholarship, created earlier this year to support the local veteran community, is available to area students who are on Active Duty, Active Reserve, or Honorably Discharged Veteran U.S. Marine, Navy Corpsman/Chaplain (attached to an FMF unit), or the spouse or child of the previously listed sponsors.
The Robert J. O’Connor Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2022 to honor Robert “Bob” O’Connor’s life and to help local students pursue their educational goals. O’Connor was the recipient of a Community Foundation scholarship as a 1962 graduate of East Aurora High School. Eligible applicants must be a graduate of East Aurora High School or West Aurora High School.
The Coffman Diesel-Automotive Scholarship Fund was established by Coffman Truck Sales in Montgomery to award scholarships to area students who are pursuing the field of automotive mechanics or diesel truck mechanics.The type of school may be a two-year college or a professional, trade, or vocational school.
Celebrating 75 Years: The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley
In 1943, Charles Hoefer, publisher of the Aurora Beacon-News, convened community leaders to study post-war plans for a better Aurora. Meetings occurred weekly and would lead to the creation of a community foundation several years later. The first meeting of the Aurora Foundation was held November 23, 1948. The Foundation launched with one $5,000 fund, and it awarded its first scholarships of $150 each to four students. Today, the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley is the third largest community foundation in Illinois. It is a non-profit organization with more than 660 funds and over $126 million in assets, thanks to the many individuals and families who have generously supported the Foundation’s general fund or established their own charitable funds.
This past year, the Foundation awarded more than $2.3 million in scholarships to 450 Fox Valley college and trade students, along with 41 grants totaling more than $615,000 to support local nonprofit organizations doing critically important work to improve the quality of life in the Fox River Valley. In sum, since 1948, the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley has provided more than $103 million to the community in the form of scholarships for students and grants to local non-profit organizations.
For more information, visit cffrv.org or follow the Foundation on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linked In.
— Community Foundation of The Fox River Valley