Scholarships for High School Seniors

Each year, the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation's Scholarship Program annually benefits 70+ enrolled undergraduate students pursuing their higher education goals. These phenomenal financial awards vary in size from $500 to $10,000. The financial educational support of this program is available through open scholarship accounts and designated fund accounts provided to the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation by generous donors who are committed to improving educational outcomes in our community. Because of incredible donor generosity and their invested interest in providing educational opportunities for students in Macon, Moultrie, and Piatt County, the amount of available scholarships continues to grow and increase in the amount of their offering while also supporting multiple types of educational pathways following high school.

Scholarship Requirements

To be eligible, a student must be a graduating high school senior or equivalent (of a high school within Macon, Moultrie, or Piatt County) and must be accepted into an accredited institution of higher learning within the United States of America. Students must be graduating high school in the current academic year or be an existing college/university student who was previously awarded a multi-year scholarship through the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation.

In addition to academic information, personal essay, and letters of recommendation, some scholarships may require additional essays to be written, an outline of community service or leadership roles, employment, additional letter of recommendation or verification, or other documentation. Each scholarship has an outlined set of criteria that may include requirements related to high school, academics, financial need, and service, or may be connected to a particular group, interest area, program, or major.

Scholarship Timeline

The Heart of Illinois Community Foundation provides a breakdown of various steps in scholarship process to guide students, parents, and counselors. While our online scholarship application portal is open January 1 - March 1 annually, there are many things you can do in the meantime to prepare. Learn more about the 2026 Scholarship Process

Scholarships Available

In previous years, the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation awarded scholarships annually to graduating high school seniors residing in Macon County who had been accepted at an accredited college or university. Again this year, this opportunity has increased, not only in number of scholarships, but also to graduating high school seniors attending high schools located in Macon, Moultrie, and Piatt County. We now award well over 70 scholarship awards to students across the three counties we serve. Additionally, new scholarships continue to be added along with opportunities for students desiring to attend Trade Schools and Apprentice programs.

Our team engages with every high school in our service area, meeting with Counselors annually prior to the start of scholarship season. Area High School Counselors have been provided with the most current listing of available opportunities for their schools and additional resources for students. You can obtain the list for your school by connecting with your counselor, or you may reach out directly to our Director of Scholarships and Grants.

Scholarship Resources

We want our applicants to be prepared and have success through our annual scholarship application process. We are excited to be able to feature a simplified process utilizing a singular universal application that also matches each applicant to scholarship opportunities they may qualify for. To help students prepare and be able to stand out, we have the following resources that we encourage you to utilize:

• Scholarships for High School Seniors - Info and FAQ for 2026 Awards
• Scholarship Application - Helpful Tips & List of Additional Required Items
• Helpful Guidelines for a Letter of Recommendation
• Scholarship Timeline for Fall Semester 2026 Awards
• Michael E. Shampine AFL-CIO List of Union Affiliates
• ISAC Resource for College Applications & FAFSA

If you are looking for additional resources, please reach out to your High School's Guidance Counselor and our Director of Scholarships and Grants for assistance. We also encourage you to visit the Illinois Student Assistance Commission at isac.org for financial aid resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Want to know more about the scholarship application process? Or, have you received an award and you’re not sure what is next? You've come to the right place! Click to connect to our Frequently Asked Questions page