West Des Moines, IA 2752

Scholarship Info

Most Valuable Student Competition for more information: email scholarshipinfo@wdmelks.com The Elks National Foundation will award 500 four-year scholarships to the highest-rated applicants in the competition. Any high school senior who is a citizen of the United States is eligible to apply. Applicants need not be related to a member of the Elks. College students are not eligible to apply. Applicants must be citizens of the United States on the date their applications are signed; resident alien status does not qualify. Male and female students compete separately. Applicants will be judged on scholarship, leadership, and financial need. All scholarships are in the form of certificates of award conditional upon the full-time enrollment of the winner in an accredited U.S. college or university. Applications must advance through local, district and state competition to reach the national competition. The Chicago office of the Elks National Foundation will announce the 500 national winners, and notify them in writing, around May 15, 2025. (Many local Lodges, districts and state Elks associations award their own scholarships through this program. These scholarships are not to be confused with the 500 Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student Scholarships.) Ranging from $1,000 per year to $15,000 per year, Most Valuable Student scholarships are for students pursuing a four-year degree, on a full-time basis (minimum of 12 semester hours), in a U.S. American college or university. Requests for additional information should be addressed to the scholarship chairman of the local Lodge or of the Elks association of the state in which the applicant is a resident.
===========================================================

The Legacy Awards: Following are answers to common questions about the Elks National Foundation's ENF Legacy Awards scholarship contest. Through its three scholarship programs, the Elks National Foundation awards more than $3 million a year in college scholarships. Legacy Awards are one-year, $1,000 scholarships. The Foundation offers a total of up to 500 awards. Who is Eligible? 1. Any child or grandchild (or step-child, step-grandchild, or legal ward) of a living Elk who joined the order on or before April 1, 2023, or a charter member of a Lodge that was instituted on or after April 1, 2023, is eligible to apply. The Elk must also be a paid-up member through March 31, 2024. Great-grandchildren are not eligible. The applicant must be a high school senior. The applicant must apply through the related member's Elks Lodge, regardless of where the applicant resides. If the applicant's parent and grandparent are both Elk members, the applicant must apply through the parent's Elks Lodge. Students may apply for more than one ENF scholarship; however, they may win only one. In cases where the student qualifies for more than one, we will award the scholarship with the greater value. Legacy Awards may only be applied to accredited US American schools, colleges or universities. (Note: Applicants from Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Philippines may apply Legacy Awards toward schools, colleges or universities in their respective homes.) Applicants must take the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the American College Test. How Do I Apply, and What Are the Deadlines? Eligible students should apply in the following manner: Obtain a Legacy Award Application from your local Lodge, visit the Elks website to download an application, or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Elks National Foundation. Applications will be in the Lodges and online by September 1, 2023. The student must complete the application and return it to the Elks National Foundation postmarked no later than January 11, 2024, along with an up-to-date transcript of grades, SAT or ACT score results, and two letters of recommendation, including one from a high school teacher. Be sure you obtain the required signatures. The Elk parent or grandparent with longest continuous membership completes part two of the required signature section; Lodge Secretary completes part three. (Note to Secretaries: You many verify membership before the application is completed.) Upon receipt of the application, the applicant will receive a notification that the application was received.  Note: Because the contest begins in one Lodge year and the winners are announced in the next, a Legacy Award could go to the child or grandchild of a lapsed member. An applicant's Elk parent or grandparent must be a paid-up member in good standing at the time of application, but if the Elk chooses not to renew membership, that decision will not affect the outcome of the Legacy Awards contest. Who Will I Compete Against and how are the quotas determined? Children and grandchildren will compete separately against other children and grandchildren in their state. Each state is eligible to receive a number of awards based on its past support of the Elks National Foundation. Due to IRS regulations, the Foundation may award Legacy Awards to no more than 25 percent of the applicants in each state. Each state's quota is divided evenly among children and grandchildren. In states where the quota is an uneven number, the extra award is allocated to children of Elks, rather than grandchildren. Who Selects the Legacy Award Winners? The Selection Committee is appointed by the ENF Board of Trustees, and consists of professionals who are not connected with either the Elks National Foundation or the BPO Elks of the USA. The Selection Committee is responsible for the confidential review of each applicant's file. They determine the Legacy Award winners. All decisions are final. How Will Applications Be Judged? The ENF Legacy Awards contest provides educational assistance to children and grandchildren of Elk members who are high school seniors, going on to college, and exhibit the core values of the Elks National Foundation: Knowledge Charity Community Integrity The Selection Committee judges applications based on the above values. There will be no further investigation of the prospective students or their parents with respect to financial need or other personal matters. How Will the Awards Be Administered? Award winners will be announced on or around May 1. The award becomes final when the student accepts it and actually enrolls in an accredited U.S. American school, college or university. The award money will be apportioned equally by period (semester, trimester, quarter, etc.). Legacy Awards are evidenced by a Certificate of Award issued by the Chicago office of the Elks National Foundation. All checks are paid directly to the school; under no circumstance can we make payment directly to the student. The scholarship monies may be used for tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board. In order to receive payment, a student must have the school send a completed Verification of Enrollment form to our Chicago office. We will then issue our check, payable to the school, and mail it directly to the school to establish a credit in the name of the student. We will notify the student when we mail the check. If a student leaves school for any reason, the undisbursed balance of the scholarship must be returned directly to the Foundation's Chicago office. It may not be transferred to another school, and it may not be paid to the student personally. In all of our scholarship programs, it is the responsibility of the student to follow up on all matters relating to his or her scholarship. In all correspondence relating to a student who has won or is applying for a Legacy Award, we must have the full name and Social Security number of the student. Where Can I Get More Information about the ENF Legacy Awards Program or the Elks National Foundation? scholarship@elks.org 773/755-4732 Elks National Foundation 2750 N. Lakeview Ave. Chicago, IL 60614-2256 ==========================================================

Emergency Educational Grants The Emergency Educational Grant program provides financial assistance to children of deceased or totally disabled Elks, who wish to obtain or further their college education. Grant amounts are based on the information submitted in the application and can range up to $4,000. The grant is for one year only; however, the student may submit up to three annual renewal applications for succeeding years as long as he or she meets all other eligibility requirements. The applicant cannot accept more than one ENF scholarship/grant in any one academic year. New applications should be filed between July 1 and December 31. Renewal applications must be filed between July 1 and October 31. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. The grant is for educational assistance only and not intended to cover the entire cost of a college education. Assistance cannot be extended beyond four years. Before applying, please be sure that the applicant meets the following eligibility guidelines. The Elk parent or stepparent must have been a member in good standing for at least one year at the time of his or her death. or The Elk parent or stepparent must have been a member in good standing for at least one year before he or she became totally disabled and must continue to be an Elk in good standing when application for assistance is made. All circumstances surrounding the death or disability of the Elk parent or stepparent are subject to the review of the Elks National Foundation. The outcome of the review may effect grant approval. The applicant must demonstrate financial need to qualify for a grant under this program. The applicant must be unmarried, under the age of 23 as of Dec. 31 in the year of application, and attending a U.S. college or university as a full-time (12 semester hours) undergraduate student. All applications -- new and renewal -- must be submitted to, and processed by, the Lodge where the Elk parent or stepparent is or was a member. Be sure to use the checklist on the application to ensure that all necessary paperwork has been included. The Lodge must investigate the application, and submit a letter of endorsement with the application. After the vote of the Lodge, the Lodge Secretary must complete the portion of the application as noted. These steps must be followed on all new AND renewal applications. As soon as possible after the student has turned the application in to the Lodge, the Scholarship Committee should conduct its investigation, and the Lodge should follow up with a vote, so that the application can be submitted to the ENF office. The ENF office does not mail applications for this program in bulk quantities. With each new printing, we may make several changes to the application, so we want to be sure that the Lodges have the most up-to-date application. The Lodge or the student may request an Emergency Educational Grant application from the ENF Chicago office by contacting 773/755-4732 or scholarship@elks.org.