Scholarship Application Instructions

Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia holds over 80 scholarships for the benefit of students across our service area. Many of the scholarships offered by the Community Foundation have specific purposes and selection criteria. Please refer to our Scholarship Listing to see a list of scholarships and the requirements.

Students are invited to complete one universal application that will automatically match them to the scholarship awards for which they qualify; they can then complete any supplemental information required for each opportunity.  The scholarship application will open November 1, 2024 and all students wishing to apply for the 2025-2026 academic year must create a new student account in the online system; unless you already have a student account. The scholarship application will close at 11:59 p.m. on January 15, 2025.   All application submissions are final as of that deadline with no exceptions. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Before you begin filling out the universal application, please review the below tutorial prior to registering and starting the application.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION TUTORIAL

Additionally, review the chart below to determine which documents you may be required to submit.  NOTE: The following file types will NOT be accepted: msg, tex, zip, odt, html, pages, exe, jar, cmd, and jpeg. File types that will be accepted include PDF and Word formatted documents.

Documentation
Required for ALL Scholarships
 Required for SELECT Scholarships
 

Transcript(s)

YES

All applicants must submit their most recent unofficial transcript. High school seniors participating in dual enrollment college-level courses must submit BOTH their high school transcript and college transcript.

 
 

Letters of Recommendation

NO

If you are an applicant from a school in the Roanoke Valley and Wythe and Smyth Counties, you MUST submit TWO letters of recommendation with your application.

 

Personal Essay Questions

YES

All applicants must answer three personal essay questions. These answers help the committee get to know you better and assess your qualifications for available scholarships.

 
 

Essay of Specified Topic

NO

YES – For the additional essays, please make sure that you answer all the questions asked within the essay prompt. 

 

Resume

YES

 
 

Report from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

NO

Due to the impending FAFSA application changes issued by the government in 2023, the Community Foundation will not require a copy of the FAFSA Student Aid Report to be uploaded for the 2025-2026 Scholarship Application cycle. The application contains a financial aid questionnaire which assesses the financial need of each applicant.

 

 

Applications without the appropriate required documents will not be considered.

The scholarship deadline is Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

Click HERE to Apply Now

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