The George Foundation Higher Education Scholarship Program
The George Foundation has established a scholarship program for high school seniors and undergraduate students residing in Fort Bend County, Texas.
The George Foundation Higher Education Scholarship Program
The George Foundation has established a scholarship program to assist graduating high school seniors and current undergraduate students residing within Fort Bend County who plan to enroll at a public two- or four-year college or university in Texas. Students must demonstrate financial need. Awards are renewable up to three (3) years or until a bachelor’s degree is obtained, whichever occurs first, contingent upon The George Foundation continuing the scholarship program.
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 The George Foundation Higher Education Scholarship Program must be:
- Residing in Fort Bend County, Texas.
- U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents or have been granted deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA)*.
- Graduating High school seniors or undergraduates who plan to enroll or who are already in a full-time (minimum 12 credit hours) undergraduate course of study at an accredited two- or four-year public college or university in Texas.
- Have a minimum GPA of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
- Demonstrate a financial need.
*Non-U.S. citizen applicants are required to be U.S. permanent residents and must submit a copy of their U.S. permanent resident card with their application. Student visas are not acceptable. DACA students must submit their approval letter.
Awards are for undergraduate study only.
Awards
High School Senior Awards
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a (4) year scholarship totaling $24,000 on a tiered award system. Year 1 & 2 – $5,500. Year 3 & 4 – $6,500. All pending meeting the criteria.
Up to forty (40) awards will be granted.
Any potential recipient that can’t be verified as a Fort Bend County, Texas resident (per the permanent home address) during The George Foundation verification process and through proof of residency to Scholarship America will become a non-recipient, and an alternate will be selected by Scholarship America. Once the verification process is completed and notification letters have been mailed, recipients are no longer required to be a Fort Bend County, Texas resident (per their permanent home address).
Preference is to be given to those who demonstrate the most financial need.
Awards cannot exceed cost of attendance.
Awards are for undergraduate study only.
Higher Education Awards
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive a scholarship totaling up to $18,000 on a tiered award system. College Year 1 & 2 – $4,000. College Year 3 & 4 – $5,000. Depending on when a student applies and is awarded will determine where they start on the tiered distribution scale.
Up to 130 awards will be granted.
Preference will be given to first generation and non-traditional students. A first generation student is defined as a college student from a family in which neither parent has a two- or four-year degree. A non-traditional student is defined as a student returning to college or entering college for the first time.
Award Renewal
Awards are renewable up to three (3) years or until a bachelor’s degree is obtained, whichever occurs first, contingent upon The George Foundation continuing the scholarship program. Recipients must be full-time students attending a two- or four-year public college or university in Texas, and have a cumulative 2.5 or higher GPA, based on a 4.0 scale, to maintain scholarship eligibility.
Recipients whose cumulative grade point average (GPA) falls below 2.5 will be placed on probation for one semester and then eliminated from the program if they fail to bring up their GPA and maintain it at that level. A recipient with more than two nonconsecutive semesters below a cumulative 2.5 GPA may be removed from the program.
Notification
Applicants will be notified in April. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. Applicants may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements.
Notifications are sent via email. When setting up your account, avoid using a school or work email. Instead, use an active, personal email address that you will continue to have access to.
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 The George Foundation. Payment is made in one installment in early August. A check made out to the college/university will be mailed to the student’s address on file. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the scholarship check is deposited with the college/university.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:
- Financial need
- Academic achievement
- School/community involvement
The application form will be extensive. All required documents must be received in order to be eligible to apply to this scholarship program.
Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of The George Foundation or the schools play a part in the selection. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.
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.
- The first two pages of the IRS Form 1040 used to complete the Financial Information page.
- A copy of the Student Aid Index (SAI) generated from the FASFA Submission Summary (Optional).
- Applicants who are not U.S. citizens but are U.S. permanent residents must also submit a photocopy of their permanent resident card. Student visas are not acceptable. Students who have been granted deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) must provide a copy of their approval letter (student visas are not acceptable).
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.
Your application is not considered complete unless all required documents are submitted electronically.
