Deadline approaches for big Kansas City scholarship. Your guide to a strong application

There is less than a month until the deadline for high school juniors around Kansas City to apply for a college scholarship from local education nonprofit KC Scholars. The window for students to get up to $50,000 and mentorship all throughout college closes on Feb. 24.

The program aims to award at least 250 scholarships to 11th graders going into their senior year. Students could be awarded up to $10,000 each year for up to five years for a total of $50,000.

Since the program launched in 2017, KC Scholars has awarded over 6,100 scholarships to students from 108 schools across 37 school districts.

KC Scholars has a 94% persistence rate, meaning most scholars are advancing through college towards graduation. In the six years that KC Scholars has distributed scholarships, it has seen a 13% increase in college attainment for Black and Latino people in the Kansas City region.

“As a first generation college student myself, I understand the life changing impact of scholarships. KC Scholars removes financial barriers and provides support at every step of the way will make a lifetime difference for our scholars,” Executive Vice President Angie Besendorfer said in an email.

Here’s a look at what you need to know to apply.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

To be eligible for KC Scholars, students must live in Wyandotte or Johnson counties in Kansas, or Cass, Clay, Jackson or Platte counties in Missouri.

Students can attend public, private, charter or home-school, so long as they are in one of the six counties mentioned above.

Recipients must be considered low to modest income. When they apply for FAFSA, they must have an estimated family contribution of $12,000 or less to be eligible.

All applicants must be a lawful U.S. resident, or eligible for and approved for DACA. Students who are in high school must have at least a 2.5 GPA in order to qualify for scholarships as well.

Applicants are then selected based on their motivation to go to college, preparedness for college, likelihood to finish college, financial need and their personal statements. Hundreds of community reviewers who are trained to assess each student’s qualifications go through the applications to select winners.

Students applying for the traditional scholarship awarded to 11th graders must have a 2.5 cumulative GPA or at least a 16 on the ACT or a 800 on the SAT.

WHAT’S IN THE APPLICATION?

To get a closer look at what will be in the application before applying, check out this checklist here.

Letters of recommendation

Students applying for will need two recommenders. Those recommenders will fill out a recommendation form.

One of the recommenders must be a teacher or counselor, and the other can be someone of the student’s choice, including a coach, pastor or work supervisor.

“I would say get the request to them early. There’s a lot of kids asking those same teachers for a recommendation. I would say follow up, give them a deadline sooner than when it’s due, things like that,” Lewis said.

Lewis added that it’s important for students to choose a recommender who can speak to the student’s qualities and talents. She also suggests that students interested in the program should nurture relationships with potential recommenders earlier than later.

Personal essay

The application will also ask for a personal essay. There are two prompts for 11th graders to fill out. Essays must be between 250 and 750 words.

“They have to write a personal statement,” Lewis said. “That’s a very critical piece to the other quantitative kind of elements that we consider when we’re awarding and ranking the applications.”

Lewis added that for an essay to stand out, students should make sure to be themselves, tell their story and make sure to answer the prompt fully.

Here are the prompts below.

• What does your community mean to you and what are ways you plan to contribute once you graduate college?

• What makes you want to pursue a college degree? How will earning a college degree enable you to reach your personal and/or career goals?

ANY OTHER TIPS ON APPLYING?

Since most students will be applying well before they actually need to have their FAFSA complete, there is an estimated family contribution calculator that students will be asked to use to gauge their financial eligibility. Students can check out that calculator here.

Lewis does suggest that families have their income taxes filled out on time, so their students can receive their FAFSA award letter on time. Students can still apply to the scholarship program before applying to FAFSA. However, if families plan ahead and apply for FAFSA early, it can make for a smoother process.

WHAT OTHER PERKS ARE THERE?

In addition to scholarships, the KC Scholars program also has one-on-one advising for students, FAFSA assistance and campus tours.

Scholars can also receive help with college applications. The scholarship does not guarantee admittance into its partner institutions, so after students are awarded the scholarship, they will need to be successfully admitted to one of the 17 schools in order to use their scholarship. To see the list of partnering schools and institutions, visit here.

Once scholars are awarded the scholarship, they are matched with a mentor who will follow them throughout undergrad and stay connected to students during their first year out of school.

Other resources from KC Scholars

KC Scholars also offers 200 adult learner scholarships, which are awarded to adults 18 years and older. Adult learners can win up to $10,000 each year for up to five years as well. This is the adult learners’ program’s first year admitting applicants that are 18 years old and up. Adult applicants can also apply if they are already enrolled in school or if they are choosing to go back, which is also a new criteria this year.

“We realized there was a population of 18 to 24 that we were missing the opportunity to serve. Some were already enrolled in college, but couldn’t afford to finish. So we just dropped that this year for this application cycle,” KC Scholars Chief Operating Officer Natalie Lewis.

Both 11th grade winners and adult winners must be enrolled in one of the 17 schools that participate in the KC Scholars network, to maintain their scholarship. Recipients must also remain enrolled in college either full or part-time to keep their scholarship.

Lastly, there are 250 scholarships awarded to 9th graders as a part of the program’s savings match program, which encourages students to get a jump start on saving for school.

Students who receive this scholarship can get up to $1,000 matched by KC Scholars. Since this scholarship is a savings match program, students will be able to use the money at whatever school they choose to attend once they graduate.

KC Scholars also encourages students to apply for the 11th grade scholarship program when they get there.