The Mount Vernon Rotary Club Scholarship Program

The Mount Vernon Rotary Club and The Mount Vernon Rotary Foundation is pleased to be offering scholarships to Knox County area high school seniors and adults to further their academic careers.
Working closely with the regional high schools, technical/colleges, and universities, our Rotary Club makes annual scholarship awards to deserving graduates and adults, thus helping them pursue their educational goals. Here is more information about our Scholarship Program in a FAQ format.

What kind of Rotary Scholarships are awarded?
The Rotary Club of Mount Vernon gives scholarships to area high school seniors and adults attending two year technical colleges, community colleges, four year colleges and graduate programs at universities.  

How many Scholarships does the Club give?
This depends on the availability of funds, and it can vary. However the Club awarded four scholarships in 2010.

Where do funds for the Rotary Scholarship Program come from?
The Scholarship Program is funded from the net proceeds of our biannual Scholarship fund raising event. The Rotary Foundation’s Board of Directors determines the specific dollar amount for the Scholarship program through the Club’s yearly budgeting process.

How may I contribute to the Mount Vernon  Rotary Scholarship Fund?
Checks may be made payable to “Mount Vernon  Rotary Foundation – Scholarship Fund,” P.O. Box 1207, Mount Vernon, OH 43050. Your gift is a tax deductible contribution.

What are the eligibility standards for a Rotary Scholarship?
To be eligible for a Traditional Scholarship, a high school or home school student must be in the current graduating class of their high school, maintain a 3.0 GPA and be a resident of Knox County.  Relatives of Rotarians are eligible for a Scholarship.
To be eligible for the Non-Traditional Scholarship, a student must be an adult enrolled in a Technical School, two or four year college or university graduate program. Student must be a Knox County resident.

What are the criteria for choosing a Rotary Scholarship recipient?
Evaluations for the scholarships follow from the motto of Rotary International, "Service Above Self" and specifically weighted criteria for selection factors listed:

1. Community Service-Volunteer work with community service projects.
2. Leadership- Leadership demonstrated as a volunteer working on i.e. community projects, school clubs or activities, team sports, 4-H clubs,  FFA.
3. Academic performance, GPA,  Honor Society
4. The quality and content of an essay discussing  ``Service above Self`` in their lives.

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How is the Rotary Scholarship Program run?
In mid-April of each year, the Scholarship Committee and Committee chairperson reviews the applications with standardized scoring of applications and essays from high school seniors and adult applications. The highest scoring applicants are chosen as scholarship winners. High School seniors are presented an award at their school’s award ceremony by a scholarship committee member. Adults receive an award at their technical school, college or university awards ceremony or a Rotary Luncheon in June. The scholarship recipients are invited/required to attend a Club luncheon in June to present their essays. This luncheon gives members the opportunity to meet scholarship recipients and fosters support for the scholarship program.

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