The Charles E. Thoele Scholarship Program
Mercy has established a scholarship program to assist children of employees who plan to continue their education in college, university, nursing school, or vocational-technical school.
The Charles E. Thoele 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 Charles E. Thoele Scholarship Program must be:
- Dependent* children, up to the age of 23, of active full-time or regular part-time Mercy employees (“co-workers”). The co-workers must have a minimum of one year of service with the Sponsor as of the application deadline date and must be employed at the time the award is granted. If the Sponsor co-worker (parent/guardian) terminates employment for any reason, the student will not be eligible for continuation of the scholarship award in the following semester.
*Dependent children are defined as natural born, adopted, stepchildren, or fully dependent wards.
Applicants that are dependent children of co-workers must be high school seniors or graduates who plan to enroll, or students who are already enrolled in a full-time undergraduate course of study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, nursing school or vocational-technical school.
OR
- Graduating high school seniors from Mount St. Mary High School in Oklahoma City or Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock who plan to enroll in a full-time undergraduate course of study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, nursing school or vocational-technical school.
Awards
The authorized distribution for new awards is $40,000. Awards of $1,000 each will be granted. Two awards will be given to students from each of the two Mount St. Mary high schools, and 36 awards will be given to dependent children of Sponsor co-workers who are attending either a vocational-technical school, a community college or a 4-year college or university.
Awards are not renewable; however, dependent children may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements. Mount St. Mary students may not reapply.
If a student is selected as a recipient and will not be enrolled for the full academic year, the award amount will be pro-rated. In the event of any returned or pro-rated amount, Sponsor shall select an alternate recipient to receive any amount of the returned or pro-rated award.
Awards are for undergraduate study only.
Notification
All applicants will be notified in May.
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.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship finalists will be selected by Scholarship America based upon:
- Academic record
- Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
- Work experience
- A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
- Unusual personal or family circumstances
From the list of finalists, The Charles E. Thoele Scholarship Committee has the sole responsibility for selecting scholarship recipients. The Committee will review Letters of Recommendation and essays questions when considering their decisions.
Financial need is not considered.
All applicants agree to accept decisions as final.
Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of Mercy. Payment is made in August and December.
Requirements
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
- 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 those test scores separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.
Two letters of recommendation, one from a school official and one from a non-relative, must be uploaded on your behalf no later than February 20, 2026 at 11:59 PM Central Time.
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
