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Illinois Scholarships

Millions of scholarships are available to students studying in the United States. With the help of Scholarships.com, finding these scholarships is not a problem. When you conduct a free college scholarship search at Scholarships.com, one of the factors considered in the filtering process is your state of residence. Another is "state of attendance", if applicable. Many college scholarships are available only to those from or attending college in a particular state and if you are among them, you could end up securing some additional funding for college. We recommend you conduct a complete scholarship search, but if you would like a sample of what you might find as an Illinois resident or someone who intends to study in Illinois, check out the scholarship opportunities below.

Amos & Edith Wallace Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 4/12/2020
  • Amount: $1,000
  • The Amos and Edith Wallace Scholarship was founded to reward young, bright African-American students who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to service and education. In order to apply, you must meet the following requirements: Female African- American High School senior graduating from Kanakekee High School in Kankakee, IL.
    You must possess a minimum 2.8 GPA and plan to attend a [...] More

BLM Squared Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 7/3/2019
  • Amount: $1,000
  • The BLM Squared Scholarship Foundation program is designed to address the financial needs of minority college students and award outstanding high school graduates who plan to earn a baccalaureate degree from an accredited, four-year college or university with financial assistance.

    Applicants must be permanent Illinois residents. Scholarships are to be utilized at an institution of higher [...] More

CBC Spouses Education Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 4/30/2020
  • Amount: $8,200
  • Seeing an educational need in their congressional districts, the CBC Spouses Education Scholarship was established in 1988 by the spouses of Congressional Black Caucus members in response to federal cuts in spending for education programs and scholarships, which disproportionately affect people of color. This opportunity awards scholarships to academically talented and highly motivated [...] More

CBC Spouses Performing Arts Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 4/30/2020
  • Amount: $3,000
  • This program was established in 2000 in honor of the late Curtis Mayfield to ensure that African-American or Black students pursuing a degree in the performing arts receive financial assistance. Performing arts includes theater, drama, comedy, music, dance, opera, marching bands, etc.

    Selected applicants will be constituents of a CBC member’s district. To determine your Representative, enter [...] More

CBC Spouses Visual Arts Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 3/31/2020
  • Amount: $3,000
  • The CBC Spouses Visual Arts Scholarship was established in 2006 to provide financial assistance to African-American or Black students who are pursuing a degree in the visual arts. Visual arts include architecture, ceramics, drawing, fashion, graphic design, illustration, interior design, painting, photography, sketching, video production, etc.

    Selected applicants will be constituents of a CBC [...] More

Crystal Charitable Fund

  • Application Deadline: Varies
  • Amount: $4,000
  • The Crystal Fund was established to support grants for an extended "away from home" cultural or educational experience that provide a skill, knowledge and/or personal value as a means of support. Scholarships are limited to Chicago area students ages 13 to 19 that are able to demonstrate extreme financial need and have a potential for providing leadership. For more information or to apply, please [...] More

Environmental Studies/Natural Science Scholarship Program

  • Application Deadline: 3/31/2020
  • Amount: $1,000
  • Each year, the Friends of Volo Bog offers a scholarship for Environmental Studies/Natural Science college students. Applicant must be a high school senior applying to an accredited college/university to study environmental or natural science or a college/university student intending to continue studies of environmental or natural science at an accredited college. Submit at least one signed letter [...] More

Friends of Moraine Hills State Park Scholarship in Environmental Studies

  • Application Deadline: 4/12/2020
  • Amount: $1,000
  • Qualified applicants will reside and attend a high school in either Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Kendall, or Will County Illinois. They must also plan to attend an accredited college or university, plan to major in a field of study and career directly related to the environment and have a high school GPA of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale. For more information or to apply, please visit the [...] More

George M. Pullman Educational Foundation Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 2/1/2020
  • Amount: $40,000
  • The George M. Pullman Educational Foundation Scholarship is a merit-based, need-based scholarship of up to $40,000 over four years, depending on the student's financial need. Scholars who remain in good standing are invited to renew their scholarship during their four years of full-time undergraduate study. Applicants must be a graduating high school senior and Cook County, Illinois resident who [...] More

Illinois AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary Memorial Scholarships

  • Application Deadline: 3/1/2020
  • Amount: $5,000
  • The Illinois AMVETS Service Foundation supports a scholarship program each year that provides graduating Illinois high school students a scholarship for their continued education. This one-year scholarship varies in its amount on a yearly basis.

    Applicant must be an Illinois high school senior and a child or grandchild of a veteran of the United States of America who served after September 15, [...] More

Illinois AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary Worchid Scholarships

  • Application Deadline: 3/1/2020
  • Amount: $500
  • The Illinois AMVETS Service Foundation supports a scholarship program each year that provides graduating Illinois high school students a scholarship for their continued education.

    Applicant must be an Illinois High School Senior who is the child of a deceased father or mother who was a Veteran of the United States of America who served after September 15, 1940, and was Honorably Discharged. [...] More

Illinois AMVETS Sad Sacks Nursing Scholarships

  • Application Deadline: 3/1/2020
  • Amount: Varies
  • The Illinois AMVETS Service Foundation supports a scholarship program each year that provides graduating Illinois high school students a scholarship for their continued education.

    Applicant must be an Illinois High School Senior who has been accepted into a pre-approved nursing program (A copy of an acceptance letter must accompany the application.) or may already be a student in an approved [...] More

Illinois CPA Society Accounting Tuition Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 4/1/2020
  • Amount: $4,000
  • The CPA Endowment Fund of Illinois, the Illinois CPA Society’s charitable partner, provides life-changing scholarships and training programs to deserving accounting students across the state. The Accounting Tuition scholarship is open to college seniors or graduate students. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident and be an Illinois resident and be enrolled in an Illinois college or [...] More

Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 5/21/2020
  • Amount: Varies
  • Since its inception, the IRA Educational Foundation has awarded almost $2.8 million to deserving students pursuing Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management in college. To qualify for a scholarship, you must be a permanent resident of the State of Illinois (under the age of 30); be accepted and plan to enroll in an accredited culinary school, college, or university; be enrolled as a full-time or [...] More

Italian Catholic Federation First Year Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 3/15/2020
  • Amount: $1,000
  • Since 1964, the Italian Catholic Federation has awarded over $2,000,000.00 in scholarships to more than 6,000 high school students, of the Catholic faith, attending college. Applications are received from students in public as well as Catholic high schools in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Illinois.

    Applicants must be Roman Catholic and of Italian Descent. Live within the Roman Catholic [...] More

Italian Catholic Federation Scholarships

  • Application Deadline: 8/1/2019
  • Amount: $1,000
  • Since 1964, the Italian Catholic Federation has awarded over $2,000,000.00 in scholarships to more than 6,000 high school students, of the Catholic faith, attending college.

    Applicants must be Roman Catholic and of Italian Descent who live within the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Arizona, California, Illinois and Nevada, only where Branches of the Federation are established (applicants of [...] More

Jewish United Fund Merit Scholarship Program

  • Application Deadline: 3/1/2020
  • Amount: $1,000
  • The Jewish United Fund offers a number of annual merit scholarships to high school, college and graduate students to age 23 who demonstrate significant leadership skills. Applicants must be enrolled in grade 10, 11 or 12 or must be no older than 23 years old and enrolled in a college or graduate program and must reside or attend school in metropolitan Chicago. Students must have also applied to [...] More

JUF Israel Experience High School Scholarship Program

  • Application Deadline: 3/1/2020
  • Amount: Varies
  • The Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation and the Naftali Steinfeld Memorial Scholarship Fund offer scholarships based on financial need for high school students participating in approved Israel Experience programs. The purpose of the Israel Experience High School Scholarship Program is to develop Jewish identity and nourish greater understanding and commitment to Israel and to the Chicago Jewish [...] More

Loyola University Catholic Heritage Award

  • Application Deadline: 12/1/2019
  • Amount: Varies
  • The Catholic Heritage Award, (awarded for four years of consecutive, full-time enrollment) is made to new freshmen graduating from a Catholic high school within the Archdiocese of Chicago or the Diocese of Joliet. This award is restricted to tuition. Students graduating from a Jesuit high school in Chicago will be awarded the Jesuit Heritage Award instead. For more information or to apply, please [...] More

Marianjoy Scholarship Program

  • Application Deadline: 3/29/2020
  • Amount: $2,500
  • Each year, Marianjoy proudly awards scholarships to students with disabilities to help them to further their education, pursue opportunities for growth, explore new possibilities, and achieve their dreams.

    Scholarship recipients are selected without regard to race, color, creed, religion, gender, age, or national origin, and have a permanent physical disability or functional impairment, such [...] More

MetLife Foundation Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 2/1/2020
  • Amount: $2,000
  • Open to high school seniosr pursuing a four-year degree in select areas of agriculture, agribusiness management,
    communications, education, journalism, extension, public relations, finance, economics, sales, marketing, engineering,
    mechanization, technology, plant pathology, plant/animal breeding and genetics, range/soil science or public service and
    administration in agriculture. Resident of [...] More

Migrant Farmworker Baccalaureate Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 7/1/2019
  • Amount: $20,000
  • Provides support for a student with a history of migrating for employment in agriculture who has successfully completed one year of college to cover expenses beyond what the youth is entitled to in federal/state and other scholarship assistance. This scholarship is designed to assist the youth in obtaining a baccalaureate degree without being encumbered with substantial debt. Applications must be [...] More

Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program

  • Application Deadline: 3/1/2020
  • Amount: $5,000
  • If you plan to teach at a non-profit Illinois public, private, or parochial preschool, elementary school, or secondary school, for which the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has determined that no less than 30% of the enrolled students are African American/Black, Hispanic American, Asian American, or Native American; and you are of African American/Black, Hispanic American, Asian American [...] More

Sean Patrick French Memorial Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 12/1/2019
  • Amount: $2,000
  • The Sean Patrick French Memorial Scholarship Fund was created by the family of Sean Patrick French following his tragic death as a passenger in an underage drunk driving car wreck on January 1, 2002, and is administered by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Sean was a popular junior at Chatham High School, an honor roll student, and a record-setting runner. The scholarship fund, in [...] More

The AAF-Greater Evansville Scholarship Award

  • Application Deadline: 3/25/2020
  • Amount: $5,000
  • The AAF-Greater Evansville awards scholarships to deserving high school and/or college students yearly in April. Over the past 40 years, AAF-Greater Evansville has distributed over $158,000 in scholarship awards. To be eligible, students must plan to pursue a career in advertising, marketing, public relations or graphic design. The application deadline varies yearly, but is typically in early [...] More

The Illinois Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs, Inc. Scholarship

  • Application Deadline: 9/1/2019
  • Amount: Varies
  • Multiples of Illinois (also known as Illinois Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs, Inc.) is offering SEVEN scholarships for higher education! There are five scholarships available to parents of multiples and two scholarships available to any daughter or son of multiples of Illinois member. There are five $150 scholarships chosen at random to any mother or father of multiples. There are two [...] More

Latest College & Financial Aid News

Harvard Revokes Parkland Shooting Suvivor's Admissions Offer

June 18, 2019

by Susan Dutca-Lovell

Harvard revoked more admissions offers - this time involving 10 students who participated in a Facebook group called "Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens." Jokes about abusing children and the Holocaust and insulting comments about different racial and ethnic groups were found in the group, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Earlier this month, Harvard also rescinded an admission offer to Kyle Kashuv who, when he was 16 years old, used inflammatory and racist language, including the N-word, right before the Parkland shooting at his school, Stoneman Douglas High School. The shootings have since "changed him and made him more mature," he claims. Kashuv became famous for his conservatism, pro-gun and pro-Trump activism which he believes, represent a different view on how to prevent future, like tragedies.

In a recent Twitter post, he apologized for his past comments and stated that, "We were 16-year-olds making idiotic comments, using callous and inflammatory language in an effort to be as extreme and shocking as possible...I'm embarrassed by it, but I want to be clear that the comments I made are not indicative of who I am or who I've become in the years since." Shortly thereafter, Harvard looked into his case and eventually revoked his admissions offer. Though university personnel appreciate his "candor and expressions of regret," Harvard "takes seriously" the "qualities of maturity" and of "character" of the students it admits. Despite appealing the revocation, Kashuv was turned down. In his defense, Kashuv argues that, "throughout its history, Harvard's faculty has included slave owners, segregationists, bigots and anti-Semites. If Harvard is suggesting that growth isn't possible and that our past defines our future, then Harvard is an inherently racist institution. But I don't believe that. I believe that institutions and people can grow. I've said that repeatedly." In your opinion, should Kashuv have had his admissions offer revoked based on something he did when he was 16? Why or why not? [...]

Wiccan Prof Sues Catholic University Over Alleged Discrimination

June 11, 2019

by Susan Dutca-Lovell

A Wiccan Professor at St. Bonaventure sued the university and her alma mater for discrimination, alleging that she was not allowed to advance in her career because she is a woman and a witch. The reported discrimination began around Halloween in 2011, after she was asked to conduct an interview about her Wiccan beliefs with the university's student TV station, SBU-TV. [...]

LGBTQ Scholarships for Pride Month

June 6, 2019

by Susan Dutca-Lovell

In honor of LGBTQ Pride Month this June, Scholarships.com is recognizing the success of, and providing financial aid resources to the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer community and its allies through featured LGBTQ scholarships. These colorful LGBTQ scholarships are not only intended for those who identify as LBTQ or are questioning, but are available to LGBTQ parents and allies, as well. Below is a preview of LGBTQ scholarships that were created to provide economic mobility and equality for LGBTQ students and allies who may face unique challenges on their educational journeys. For even more LGBTQ scholarships, Parent LGBTQ scholarships or LGBTQ Ally scholarships, visit here. [...]

Last Reviewed: June 2019

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