COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 2022 LILLY ENDOWMENT COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Two students can earn otherwise unreimbursed full-tuition and up to $900 per year

July 6, 2021 – The 2022 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship application is now available through the Community Foundation of Howard County.  The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program (LECSP) will provide 143 scholarships statewide and two scholarships in Howard County. LECSP scholarships may be used for otherwise unreimbursed full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year. The special allocation may cover the costs for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.

The program, administered statewide by Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) and locally in Howard County through the Community Foundation of Howard County, is open to all Indiana residents who:

- graduate from an accredited Indiana high school by 2022 and receive their diploma no later than June 30, 2022;

- intend to pursue a full-time baccalaureate course of study at an eligible college or university in Indiana; and

- meet the criteria specific to their local community foundation.  Visit www.cfhoward.org for complete information regarding application criteria.

• On-line applications are available at www.cfhoward.org and must be completed and submitted by September 3, 2021, to be considered.

Applications will be evaluated on, but not limited to, the following criteria: academic achievement, activities in and out of school, potential for success, financial need, first generation college student (preference given) and interview.  Finalists will be nominated by the Community Foundation of Howard County and their names will be submitted to ICI for final selection of the recipients.  Scholarship recipients will be notified in December.

Lilly Endowment created LECSP for the 1997-1998 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling more than $424 million. Nearly 5,000 Indiana students have received Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships since the program’s inception.

The primary purposes of LECSP are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.

“The Community Foundation of Howard County has been pleased to offer the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since its beginning,” said Greg Aaron, president of the Community Foundation of Howard County. “This is a wonderful scholarship opportunity for students.”

The Community Foundation of Howard County, Inc. was formed as a not-for-profit public charity in March 1991. The Foundation seeks to serve donors and make grants to benefit the citizens of Howard County.  For more information about the Community Foundation, contact Greg Aaron at 765-454-7298 or greg@cfhoward.org. The Web site www.cfhoward.org contains information about making gifts to endowment funds, scholarships and grantmaking. 

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds significant programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. However, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 30 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ over 22,000 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30 percent of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20 percent of its undergraduates.