Scholarships for Students

Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program

The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for Madison County is administered by the Madison County Community Foundation.

Madison County's Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is awarded to two students, who will be provided eight semesters of full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full time basis, leading to a baccalaureate degree at any Indiana public or private college or university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

In our selection process, applications will be reviewed by a committee of community members. Reviews are completed anonymously without disclosure of student or parent identity. Each Lilly finalist who is not selected as a recipient will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Madison County Community Foundation.

The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.

Applications for 2025 are now closed. Contact Us for Help

Eligibility Requirements (subject to change each year)

Madison County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is open to students that:

  • Reside in Madison County AND are a student of a Madison County school (Daleville and Madison-Grant student who reside in Madison County only) for 12 months prior to the date of application. Students may only apply in 1 county;

  • Rank in the Top 15% (weighted GPA) of their class academically after six (6) semesters (end of Junior year) to be verified by your school guidance counselor;

  • Intend to pursue a full-time baccalaureate course of study at an accredited public or private Indiana college or university;

  • Complete the application in full and submit by the stated deadline;

  • Will graduate from one of the following high schools in 2025 (and receive their diploma no later than June 30, 2025).

Applicants will be evaluated on five criteria, each weighted as follows:

  • Academic Performance 20%

  • Community Service 30%

  • Extra-Curricular Activities 30%

  • Application and Essay 20%

Application evaluation is done “blindly” therefore no personal information will be available to the committee to ensure a fair and unbiased evaluation process. Committee members are required to complete a score card online,the MCCF Vice President of Programs will complete a scoring composite of all applicants and reserve the “pre-interview subtotals” to be used in the event of a tie. Application scores also comprise 50% of the overall finalist total. Finalists are determined by the top application scores from each high school.

The number of finalists from each accredited high schools in the county are as follows:

  • Schools with class size above 300 students will have 2 finalists

  • Schools with class size 299-101 will have 1 finalist

  • Schools with class size under 100 will have one total (APA, Liberty Christian, Daleville, Madison-Grant) 

  • Alexandria High School- 1 finalist

  • Anderson High School- 2 finalists

  • Anderson Preparatory Academy- 1 potential finalist

  • Elwood High School- 1 finalists

  • Frankton High School- 1 finalists

  • Lapel High School- 1 finalists

  • Liberty Christian High School- 1 potential finalist

  • Pendleton-Heights High School-2 finalists

  • Daleville High School - 1 potential finalist (MC residents only)

  • Madison-Grant High School - 1 potential finalist (MC residents only)

Interviews  

Interviews will be held on the evening of Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

Interviews are scheduled to last 20 minutes and include questions from each member. Based on the following criteria:

  • Personal Presentation 40%

  • Presentation Skills 30%

  • Question and Answers 30%

Immediately following each interview, all Selection Committee members will complete the interview score rubric and score the candidate.

  • Application and Essay Score: 50%

  • Interview Score: 50%

The top two scores will be selected as the recipients.

Application open: July 15, 2024

Application closes: August 22, 2024 (at 11:59 pm)

Finalist Notification: Revised Date | September 9, 2024 

Finalist Interviews: September 25, 2024

Recipient Announcement: mid-December 2024

2024 Lilly Endowment Community Scholars

Seth Chester

Alexandria HS
Alexandria, Indiana

Seth Chester attended Alexandria-Monroe High School and is currently enrolled at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. [Read more]

Camille Yancey

Pendleton Heights HS
Pendleton, Indiana

Camille Yancey attending Pendleton Heights High School and is attending Butler University. [Read More]

Current Lilly Endowment Community Scholars

Vanessa McNeal
2023

Anderson PA
Butler University

Ryan Mason
2023

Anderson
Purdue University

Tommy Manning
2022

Lapel
DePauw University

Grace McKinney
2022

Pendleton Heights
DePauw University

Jack Hudson
2021

Pendleton Heights
Butler University

Hannah Tisdale
2021

Pendleton Heights
Indiana State University

Creating a Brighter Future

for the Youth of Madison County