When you are ready to apply, you can click the Search For Scholarships button below to find scholarships by name, school, and type of scholarship. You can also view the eligibility criteria and see how to apply.

Search for Scholarships

We have more scholarships available through our Community Foundation partners. The links below will take you away from this site to the Appleton Education Foundation’s website and the Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley Region’s website.

Most applications on our scholarship portal open on December 1st!

Deadlines are closer than you think.

FEBRUARY

2.1.2026 Wisconsin Garden Club Federation Scholarship Application

2.2.2026 Brillion High School Scholarship Application

2.20.2026 Arcadia High School Scholarship Application

MARCH

3.1.2026 Bear Paw Resort Scholarship Application

3.1.2026 Bonduel High School Scholarship Application

3.1.2026 Community Foundation Universal Scholarship Application

3.1.2026 Opportunities within the Continuing College & Non-Traditional Student Universal Scholarship Application

3.1.2026 Shawano Community High School Scholarship Application

3.9.2026 International Association for Structural Movers Scholarship Application

3.15.2026 Ralph and Clare Rudolph Scholarship for Rockline Industries Application

3.31.2026 Kiel High School Scholarship Application

APRIL

4.1.2026 Ariens Family Foundation Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 BetterLife f/k/a WFLA WI & Upper MI Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 Chilton High School Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 Faith Technologies, Inc. Memorial Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 Opportunities within the Continuing College & Non-Traditional Student Universal Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 Jewelers Mutual Scholarship 

4.1.2026 Joyce Bytof Memorial Cancer Survivors Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 Mari’s Fund Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 Les and Dar Stumpf Youth Arts Application 

4.1.2026 SECURA All-College Scholarship Application 

4.1.2026 Van Hoof Family Scholarship Application 

MAY

5.1.2026 Gresham Scholarship Application – High School Award 

5.1.2026 Inspire the Future Scholarship Application 

5.1.2026 Opportunities within the Continuing College & Non-Traditional Student Universal Scholarship Application 

5.1.2026 Mike Van Asten Fellows Scholarship Application 

5.1.2026 Rhoades Sanford Foundation Scholarship Application 

5.1.2026 Wisconsin Bakers Foundation Scholarship Application 

SEPTEMBER

9.13.2026 Gardner Dam Camp Staff Scholarship Application

DECEMBER

12.1.2026 Gold Cross Ambulance Scholarship Application

ONGOING APPLICATION DEADLINES

Bob and Cheri Suttner Scholarship (Continuing College & Non-Traditional Student Universal Scholarship Application)

Darell Wolf Trades Scholarship (Continuing College & Non-Traditional Student Universal Scholarship Application)

Gresham Scholarship – Community Award (Gresham Scholarship Application)

Richard Newcomb & Janice Scheiber-Newcomb Education Scholarship (Continuing College & Non-Traditional Student Universal Scholarship Application)

Small Steps Scholarship (Continuing College & Non-Traditional Student Universal Scholarship Application)

Check out our Frequently Asked Questions for scholarship applicants and recipients further down this page.

The Community Foundation offers a variety of scholarships: 

1. Scholarships for high school seniors. 
2. Scholarships for homeschooled students (select “Homeschooled” from the school drop-down menu). 
3. Scholarships for current college students and non-traditional students. 
4. Corporate scholarships for dependents of employees at different companies.

All scholarships through the Community Foundation are free, and there is no limit to how many scholarships someone may apply for, as long as the applicant matches the eligibility criteria listed in the Scholarship Profile.  

How to Apply

Each scholarship listing has a “How to Apply” section indicating where to find the application. Applications will usually be located on the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Portal or applied through a school guidance office. To register on the scholarship portal, use an email you can access long term. Applicants should  NOT use a school assigned student email to register, as we communicate with applicants and recipients via email throughout the process. 

Universal Applications

Universal applications are applications that include multiple scholarships opportunities within a single application. Students only need to complete a universal application one time to apply for all opportunities listed within that universe. By filling out and submitting a single universal application, applicants have a chance to qualify for multiple scholarships – without having to fill out multiple applications.  

Scholarship opportunities within a universal application are subject to additional supplemental applications. Check out the Applicant Tutorial resource specifically for universal applications. 

Deadlines

Deadlines for each scholarship application can be found in the “Application Deadlines for 2027” section further above on this page or the scholarship portal on each application summary. 

Here are our most used terms. If you do not find a term on the list below that you are unsure of, please reach out to scholarships@cffoxvalley.org for further help. 

• Graduating Seniors vs. Graduates: Graduating seniors are currently high school seniors, on track to graduate high school in the upcoming spring. Graduates include both current, graduating seniors as well as students who have graduated from high school previously. 

• Post-secondary education: This means education obtained from an institution of higher education that is attended after high school. High school is “secondary” education. 

• Undergraduate: An undergraduate is a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree (typically a 4-year degree) at a college or university, or a student pursuing a 2-year associate degree program at a college, community college, or vocational/technical school. 

• Accredited college: Accreditation is a process of recognition that a school meets or exceeds certain academic standards. The Community Foundation only sends scholarships to schools that are accredited to ensure legitimacy of the receiving organizations. Students can obtain information about a school’s accreditation from the school. 

• Field of Study vs. Degree vs. Major: The Community Foundation uses eligibility criteria surrounding these three terms: 

• • Major: Only students who are specifically majoring in Marketing would be eligible. 

• • Degree: Students who are majoring or minoring in Marketing or pursuing a business degree with an emphasis in Marketing, would be eligible. 

• • Field of Study: Students pursuing degrees in various disciplines and majors could be eligible, such as business or graphic design. If the student can demonstrate that their studies relate to the field of Marketing, they may be eligible. 

• Traditional students vs. Non-Traditional students: Traditional students are defined as students who have graduated high school and continue to pursue post-secondary education immediately following their high school graduation, not taking a gap year(s). Non-traditional students are students who have either previously graduated college at least 1 year prior, or taken a gap year(s) before/during college, or are returning to pursue post-secondary education later in life. 

• Full-time vs. Part-time student status: The Community Foundation generally considers a student taking 12 credits per semester as being a full-time student and 6-11 credits per semester as being a part-time student. This is how most post-secondary institutions define full-time and part-time. However, this can vary based on the school’s credit/point system. Students should review their intended college’s website to find out the credit point system the school uses. Most of the Community Foundation’s scholarships are for students who take 6 or more credits per semester. If your college has a different credit/point system (for example, the school might be on a trimester schedule with 9 credits per trimester being full-time), please reach out to scholarships@cffoxvalley.org to request that we update your application to reflect that you are still a full-time student, even if you are taking fewer than 12 credits. When you reach out, please provide proof of the school’s alternate credit/point system. 

• Preference: When the scholarship eligibility criteria on the scholarship profile includes a preference, it means that, while a certain factor is not required, it could increase an applicant’s likelihood of being chosen as a recipient. 

Each scholarship offered by the Community Foundation has a Scholarship Profile.

The profile can be accessed through a link on the List of Scholarships for each scholarship. The profile is a document that contains details like the eligibility criteria, award amount, payment process, and loss of eligibility. Applicants should review the Scholarship Profiles carefully when they begin looking for scholarship opportunities. 

Something to consider when reviewing Scholarship Profiles is whether it is listed as a “non-renewable award” versus a “renewable award”. A “non-renewable award” means the scholarship award is paid one time, in one lump sum, typically for the fall semester of freshman year of college. A “renewable award” means the scholarship award is split between more than one semester or school year and is paid periodically. (For example: A $2,000 scholarship award may pay $1,000 during the fall of freshman year and $1,000 during the fall of sophomore year.) The recipient must verify their continued eligibility between each payment. Payment details can be found in the Scholarship Profile, under “Award Amount and Payment Procedure.” 

Many scholarship opportunities offered by the Community Foundation take financial need into consideration. Without filling out FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), you will not have access to your SAR (Student Aid Report).  To be eligible for scholarships that consider financial need, you may need to upload the SAR as part of the application. We strongly encourage all applicants to fill out the FAFSA form and have SAR available prior to filling out your application(s). 

For applications open in the spring, scholarship selection committees recommend recipients between March-May, depending on the scholarship’s application deadline. 

• If the scholarship is specifically for high school students, students will receive their congratulatory packet at their high school’s award ceremony if they are recipients. 

• For scholarships applied through the Community Foundation’s scholarship portal, applicants can also check their application status through the Applicant Dashboard on the Scholarship Portal, under Active Requests: Undecided, Denied, or Approved. Most decisions will be processed between May-June timeframe.  

For applications that have fall deadlines, decisions are typically processed within a month of the application deadline. 

Translations

Our website (as most websites do) offers a translator. At the bottom of any page on our website, you can find a Google symbol with a drop-down menu of languages. Select your preferred language from the available choices, and our website is automatically translated by using Google translate. This functionality extends to all written text on our website, but does not apply to graphs or attached documents, such as PDFs. (Disclaimer: Google’s translator functionality is not perfect, some of the information may be read differently or incorrectly.) 

The Community Foundation does not have hard rules about what is considered “enough” financial need. It is true that scholarships that consider financial need will compare the applicants to each other to determine the highest financial need among multiple factors. Those scholarships still consider all the other eligibility criteria. When a scholarship takes financial need into consideration, that does not mean that financial need will be the only determining factor in the selection process. 

If an applicant meets the eligibility criteria for a specific scholarship, they should apply, regardless of their financial status. 

The recipient’s congratulatory packet will include instructions for next steps and will include details on the award received. All recipients will need to create accounts on the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Portal to accept their awards. Please refer to the  instructions document here for how to claim your award. To complete the Scholarship Acceptance & Verification Form, documents that may be needed, but not limited to, are the following: 

• Class/Registration list with credits listed 

• Proof of major 

• Invoice 

• Previous semester/year’s transcript 

If your phone number, mailing address, or email address has changed, log into the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Portal and update your contact information. 

The Community Foundation sends the scholarship payments directly to the recipient’s school, designated to the recipient’s student account.  Payment processing is on a rolling basis and is typically processed within 3 weeks. Schools may have additional processing time. 

Renewable scholarship awards are typically split between semesters or academic years. The recipient must verify their continued eligibility between each scholarship payment. Payments will not be processed until students submit their verification materials for each payment. Payment details can be found in the Scholarship Profile, under “Award Amount and Payment Procedure.” 

Examples: 

• A $2,000 scholarship award for 2 years of college is paid $1,000 for the fall of freshman year, $1,000 for the fall of sophomore year. 

• A $1,000 scholarship award for the first year of college is paid $500 for the fall semester and $500 for the spring semester. 

The Scholarship Acceptance Form on the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Portal gives recipients the opportunity to defer their scholarship(s) one-time and for up to one year. If a recipient needs to defer after accepting/claiming a portion of their scholarship, they must reach out to the Scholarships Team at scholarships@cffoxvalley.org for further instructions. All deferral requests must be approved by the Community Foundation.  

Various forms will be posted to the portal dashboard for recipients to complete. Some of these forms include: 

1. Scholarship Acceptance Form: This form allows recipients to accept, defer, or deny the scholarship award.  

1. Scholarship Verification Form: Once the Scholarship Acceptance Form is submitted, recipients will be assigned verification form(s) based on the scholarship’s payment schedule.  

The deadlines for form submissions are August 15th for fall semester award payments and January 15th for spring semester award payments. 

Recipients that completed an application through a high school application and not the Scholarship Portal will need to complete additional steps before the Scholarship Acceptance & Verification Form(s) appear on their portal dashboard. Please refer to the  instructions document here for more information on how to access the Scholarship Acceptance Form for Outside Scholarships form.  

Once you have submitted your acceptance form, you will be assigned follow up form(s) according to the scholarship payment schedule. We will not process any payments until the assigned follow up(s) are submitted. If you have received more than one scholarship from the Community Foundation, the form will need to be completed for each scholarship.