So college in America is kinda pricey, yeah?
As a prospective college student, you’re probably always looking out for different ways to cover the high (and getting higher) costs of higher education. Unfortunately, because paying for college can be fairly confusing, a lot of students don’t know about all the different forms of aid that are available and miss out on some major opportunities.
Like the Elks Scholarship, which is awarded annually to hundreds of applicants.
How does this scholarship work?
What must you do to apply, and how can you maximize your odds of receiving this award?
Below, you’ll find all the information you need to get started and make your own higher education journey that much more affordable.
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(click to skip ahead)What is the Elks Scholarship?
The Elks Scholarship (also known as the Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student scholarship) is an annual award presented by the Elks National Foundation. It’s designed for high school seniors who are applying to college. Each year, the Elks Scholarship Foundation awards 500 students with money to help pay for college (which you can learn a ton more about at that link).
The award amounts vary from $1,000 to $7,500, and all high school seniors who are applying to become full-time college students at an accredited university are encouraged to apply. You do not need to be an Elks member in order to apply for this award.
The Elks National Scholarship Foundation
The Elks National Scholarship Foundation was started by the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks in 1928. Back then, the organization’s national president was John F. Malley, who had a dream to “unite the forces of the Order into a mighty army for the service of mankind.”
To that end, he convinced the organization to develop the Elks National Foundation, and since then, the ENF has donated $500 million to various charitable programs, with much of the funding coming from passionate donors.
Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship is just one of the many charitable endeavors of the ENF. In fact, the ENF has a number of other scholarship opportunities available for qualified students, including
Legacy Awards (available to the children and grandchildren of Elks members)
and Emergency Educational Grants (available to the children of deceased or completely disabled Elks members).
The organization also offers the Gunther & Lee Weigel Medical School Scholarship to Elks scholars who are actively pursuing a medical degree or Osteopathic Medicine degree.
Fortunately, the Elks MVS Scholarship is available to non-Elk members, and you don’t have to major in anything specific in order to qualify.
(Useful note that, if you do qualify for other Elks scholarship opportunities, you can apply to more than one Elks Foundation scholarship or grant—but you can only accept one.)
The Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student scholarship
The Elks National Foundation’s Most Valuable Student scholarship is awarded to 500 students each year. This is a four-year award that pays out between $1,000 to $7,500 annually. Additionally, male and female students compete for this award separately, which may improve your odds of getting accepted.
Select applicants have the chance to win a much larger award. Out of the 500 semi-finalists chosen by the ENF for this award, 20 scholars are chosen to attend a Leadership Weekend retreat in Chicago.
In addition to this valuable networking opportunity, these chosen scholars will receive an award of $30,000 to go toward their four-year education. Meanwhile, the other 480 scholars selected by the ENF will receive awards of $4,000 for their four-year education.
Elks scholarship eligibility requirements
Fortunately, you don’t need to be a current or former member of the Elks in order to apply for the Most Valuable Student Scholarship. However, there are some eligibility requirements you should be aware of. By familiarizing yourself with the requirements, you can better organize your application materials and maximize your chances of getting chosen for this prestigious award.
Applicants must be high school seniors at the time of their application.
Academics are a consideration for applicants, but this reward is also needs-based. Therefore, successful applicants will need to demonstrate both financial hardship and academic achievements.
Applicants must also be United States citizens applying to an accredited university in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.
Perhaps most importantly, applicants must also demonstrate leadership and community service skills.
In order to receive and maintain the Elks Club scholarship award, students must take a minimum of 12 credit hours. Taking less than a full-time courseload may actually disqualify you from the reward you’ve earned. Should you win this financial aid, be sure to maintain a full-time schedule that will accommodate your academic needs without overwhelming you.
How to apply for the Elks scholarship
To begin
You must navigate to the award’s official website.
Once there, click on the “Apply Now” button. You will then be prompted to register for an account.
After you have registered, you will be able to sign in and complete the rest of your application online.
Be sure to pay close attention to the due date for your application. For example, those seeking an award for the 2025-2026 academic year needed to complete their applications by November 12, 2024.
You’ll have to advance through local, district, and state levels before the national competition.
You’ll need to complete all of the following:
A short answer essay (Past prompts have been things like “Using one of the leadership roles or extracurricular activities you prioritized as being important to you, describe what impact the experience had on you, what you contributed, what you learned about yourself, and how it had influenced your plans for the future.”—for a guide to writing these kinds of extracurricular activity essays, head here.)
A list of work experience, community service, honors and awards, other extracurricular experience, and leadership positions held
An official high school transcript
A teacher recommendation (we highly recommend giving your teacher plenty of time to write—ideally at least 2-3 weeks, if not more.)
Check out the full guide to extracurricular activity essays above for greater detail, but a few tips for writing:
Focus on voice and authenticity (rather than writing just what you think readers are hoping to hear)
Use the actions you’ve taken to illustrate the values you’ve developed and the ways you’ve illustrated your character
Show how you’ve worked as a leader to impact your community
Don’t be afraid to get a little vulnerable
After you submit your application, it is very important to regularly check your email for updates. You will periodically receive updates from ENF about your application and whether it is proceeding forward or whether you are no longer being considered for the award.
Final thoughts on the Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship
This award represents an opportunity for talented students facing academic hardship to find a path toward a college education. And the scholars receiving this award will be in a unique position to lead their communities in the coming days and years.
While this one scholarship is fairly accessible and versatile, don’t forget about the need to apply to as many awards as possible. In general, we’d recommend applying for 3-5 times the amount you’re actually hoping to receive.
That’s a lot of work. But it seems with it if you can graduate college with less student loan debt that may take many years to fully pay off.
Posse Scholarship Acceptance Rate
This award represents an opportunity for talented students facing academic hardship to find a path toward a college education. And the scholars receiving this award will be in a unique position to lead their communities in the coming days and years.
While this one scholarship is fairly accessible and versatile, don’t forget about the need to apply to as many awards as possible. In general, we’d recommend applying for 3-5 times the amount you’re actually hoping to receive.
That’s a lot of work. But it seems with it if you can graduate college with less student loan debt that may take many years to fully pay off.
Chris Snellgrove is an English Professor at Northwest Florida State College who
specializes in literature, rhetoric, and business writing. As a freelance writer, Chris specializes in sales, marketing, pop culture, and video games. He has a B.A. in English from Troy University and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Auburn University. When he’s not writing or talking to others about writing, Chris loves reading books, playing video games, watching horror movies, and disappearing into a comic book. He currently lives in Northwest Florida and would probably rather be at the beach right now.
Top values: Diversity / Equality / Social Justice
