Leadership Scholarships
Educational Leadership scholarships are designed to focus on those students who have been involved in roles which leave them in charge of groups, organizations and specific projects. They are built up around not only encouraging that very sort of activity but by rewarding it and hoping that it remains as a regular facet of a student’s future life. While different leadership scholarships will focus on different ideas, the overarching concept is pretty generic – students who take on leadership roles while performing well in school and displaying a clear enough passion for a topic to take up the mantle of leadership should have available to them the opportunity to further their education. This means that students who have spent a lot of time in high school or even in college involving themselves in activities or clubs while also taking on projects and leading them along may very well be able to apply for leadership scholarships, helping to fill their needs for financial assistance.
There are many different scholarships for leadership available to students if they take the time to look. One such program is the Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship. While available only through the University of Washington, this program awards $4,000 to a varying number of students every year. In order to be eligible for the program students will need to be University of Washington students attending school at least full-time, continue to engage in a leadership project, and, in order to receive the full amount, cannot be receiving any other Mary Gates scholarships. The deadline for this program is January 24.
The Civic Leadership Scholarship through Kansas State University represents another great opportunity for students to get access to financial aid money. In this instance, leadership scholarships for high school seniors are given out by operating not necessarily in a formal leadership role but by living by example to others through a commitment to serving the community. $4,000 will be given every year to a first place winner, $2,500 will be given to a student coming in second, and finally $2,000 will be given to a third place student. Eligibility for this leadership scholarship requires that students have a strong record of community service, be a current high school senior who has been admitted to Kansas State University, and be planning to attend the college immediately after graduation. All application materials must be turned in by December 13.
Comcast, the cable service provider, provides the Leaders and Achievers leadership scholarship every year. With a stated interest in bringing about positive change in a given community, the national corporation approaches schools every year to find out what students have been doing their part to make the community a better place. Students who win an award through the Leaders and Achievers program will receive $1,000. Many awards are given out every year through this program and since 2001 at least 13,000 different scholarships have been awarded. Students interested in this program will need to be full-time high school seniors, display leadership experience in their school or community, and have at least a 2.8 grade point average. All students must be nominated for the program by their high school principal of guidance counselor. Students interested in getting a nomination should watch the Comcast website or contact them directly for deadline information.
Many different educational leadership scholarships are made available specifically through colleges or other institutions of high education. Having leadership experience looks good on a college application and a university with a leadership scholarship program would be a good place for many students looking for such forms of aid to start their college search. Of course not all leadership scholarships go through universities as can be seen above with the Comcast program.
Christian organizations, youth leadership programs and even some national organizations have an interest in helping young people develop their leadership skills to help move their generation on into the future. Students with a background in leadership should consider looking at the organizations they volunteer with or look into the national group to which any clubs they work with may belong for access to such programs.
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