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Lilly Scholarship application process is open for 2025

From reports

The 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship application is now available in Whitley County through the Community Foundation of Whitley County.

The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program (LECSP) will provide 147 scholarships statewide and one scholarship in Whitley 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 Whitley County through the Community Foundation of Whitley County, is open to all Indiana residents who:

  • graduate from an accredited Indiana high school by 2025 and receive their diploma no later than June 30, 2025;
  • 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 https://www.cfwhitley.org/scholarships/?a=lilly for complete information regarding Whitley County’s application criteria.

Students can learn more about the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship in Whitley County and apply for this scholarship by visiting www.cfwhitley.org. Applications must be completed and submitted by 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 12, 2024 to be considered.

Applications will be evaluated on, but not limited to, the following criteria: financial need, perseverance, and work history. One finalist will be nominated by the Community Foundation of Whitley 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 1997-98 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling more than $490 million. More than 5,300 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 Whitley County is again pleased to offer LECSP for its 28th year in Whitley County. “We are honored to partner with LECSP for this Scholarship opportunity for one of our local students,” said September McConnell, CEO of the Community Foundation.

The Community Foundation of Whitley County was established in 1991 by community leaders who understood the strength of endowed philanthropy to meet the changing needs of Whitley County. Today the organization has an asset base of over $38 million and awarded more than $3 million to local non-profits in 2023.

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 29 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.