Welcome

APPLICATIONS MAY BE SUBMITTED STARTING FEBRUARY 1st OF EACH YEAR. THE DEADLINE EACH YEAR IS APRIL 25th.
THE THREE-PART APPLICATION IS AVAILABLE AT THE "APPLY FOR FUNDING" LINK ABOVE.

The Tri-State Area Citizens' Scholarship Foundation—popularly known as Dollars for Scholars®—was launched in 1962. The first awards totaled $9,750, and were made in June 1963 to 20 needy students from school districts in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. The Foundation is administered by a Board of Directors (representing each of the six school districts) and Foundation Officers.  Dollars for Scholars® operates as part of the larger organization of Scholarship America.

Since 1992, no funds have been used for operating expenses. Instead, all operating expenses are covered by the in-kind contributions of a few generous supporters. We know of no other local charitable organization which can match our boast that 100% of the funding raised goes directly to the charity’s beneficiaries.  The only exception to this rule are those funds which donors have requested be invested, which means that we award only the income from the invested funds.   For the 2011—2012 school year, the Foundation announced that awards totaling $224,000 would be made to 112 students.   Our belief is that we have the only chapter which awards every penny of the funds donated, other than those funds which the donors have requested be invested.  Other chapters use an average of 49%—nearly half!—of donated funds for operating expenses and other costs.

For the 2011 - 2012 academic year, our top award can provide students with 8% to 79% of their annual college costs (depending on whether they are attending a private or a public institution, and whether it’s a two-year or four-year course of study—see http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/index.html for details). Clearly, this is a major funding boost. The vast majority of our recipients do receive the top award.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence which supports our work is the fact that " . . . for each $1,000 of subsidy, the college attendance rate rises by four to six percentage points . . . Aid eligibility also appears to increase completed schooling" (taken from "The Behavioral and Distributional Implications of Aid for College," by Susan Dynarski of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, published in American Economic Review, 2002).  Clearly, the availability of Dollars for Scholars® aid makes a tremendous difference for many dozens of tri-state area students each year.

Since 1963, our Dollars for Scholars® chapter has awarded 5,311 scholarships totaling $5,464,997. For the 2011 - 2012 school year, the maximum award is $2,000/student. As of June 30th, 2011, a total of $2,209,287 has been repaid over the years by prior recipients, including 1,000 scholarships which have been repaid in full. This year, almost half of the awards to recipients are being funded solely by repayments. Of the more than 1,200 Dollars for Scholars® chapters nationwide, ours is one of only three to ask past recipients to repay their awards.

NOTE: This web site is updated two to three times annually.  If information you're looking for isn't here--rest assured that it will be added during the next update.  Many thanks.