PSE Merle T. Lebakken Scholarship
Power System Engineering (PSE) established a scholarship program to assist students pursuing a degree within the electrical power or industrial industries.
PSE Merle T. Lebakken Scholarship
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.
Eligibility
Applicants to the PSE Merle T. Lebakken Scholarship must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Be high school seniors or graduates, or current college undergraduates
- Plan to enroll in a fulltime undergraduate study at an accredited two-year or four-year college or university for the entire upcoming academic year
- Plan to pursue a degree within the Electrical Power or Industrial Industries (including but not limited to Business, Engineering, Electric, and Management)
- Plan to pursue a career in the utility industry
- A recommendation from a PSE employee or an individual who works for one of PSE’s active clients
Dependents of PSE employees may apply if they meet the eligibility requirements listed above.
Full-time PSE employees are not eligible to apply.
Awards
Selected recipients will receive an award of either $2,500 for students attending a two-year college or $5,000 for students attending a four-year college or university. Up to two (2) awards will be granted.
Awards are not renewable. Students who continue to meet the eligibility requirements in following years, are welcome to apply again, regardless if they’ve been awarded the scholarship in prior years or not.
Notification
All applicants will be notified in May if they are a selected recipient or not.
Notifications are sent via email. When setting up your account, avoid using a school or work email. Instead, use an active, personal email address.
Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address as safe senders in your email contact list.
Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of PSE. Payment is made in early August. Checks are made out to the institution of study and are sent to the student.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship recipients are selected based on:
- Academic performance
- Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
- Work experience
- A written statement describing why the applicant chose to pursue a degree in this field and the applicant’s stated career goals within the utility industry (1,000 characters)
- Unusual personal or family circumstances
- An online recommendation. The recommender must be a PSE employee or work for one of PSE’s active clients.
Financial need is not considered.
Recipient selection is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of PSE play a part in the selection. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.
Application Deadline
Student application packages must be submitted no later than March 24, 2026 at 3:00 PM Central Time. The individual providing an online recommendation has until no later than three business days after the application deadline date.
Requirements
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
- A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
- Student name
- School name
- Grades
- Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.
One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than three business days after the application deadline date. The online recommendation must be from a PSE employee or an individual who works for one of PSE’s active clients.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
