Overall Scholarship Guidelines

Our programs are for undergraduate study only. A student may not receive more than one Elks National Foundation scholarship/award or grant in any one academic year.

The scholarships/grants (except EEF) are evidenced by a Certificate of Award issued by the Chicago office of the Elks National Foundation. All checks are paid directly to the school; under no circumstance can we make payment directly to the student.

The scholarship/grant monies may be used for tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board (the latter ONLY if living on campus). In order to receive payment, a student must have the school send to our Chicago office, the completed Verification of Enrollment form, whereupon, we will issue our check, payable to the school, and mail it directly to the school to establish a credit in the name of the student. We will notify the student when we mail the check.

Since most checks are being prepared during the months of September, October and November, student and school must allow at least three weeks for payment.

If a student terminates his or her course for any reason, the undisbursed balance of the grant or scholarship MUST be returned directly to the Foundation’s Chicago office. It may NOT be transferred to another school, and it may NOT be paid to the student personally.

In all of our scholarship/grant programs, it is the responsibility of the student to follow up on all matters relating to his or her scholarship/grant.

In all correspondence relating to a student who has been nominated for a scholarship or grant, we must have the full name AND Social Security number of the student.

The information herein should not be turned over to publishers or those who wish to include it in a computer resource listing. We receive hundreds of requests from students who pay for scholarship/grant information, only to find they are not eligible or that the information is years out-of-date. Unfortunately, many of these sources do not publish complete information, nor do they update their files on a regular basis.

The Elks National Foundation has no loan programs, vocational grants or assistance for graduate study available, and it does not maintain a mailing list.

For more information contact the Elks National Foundation Scholarship Department at scholarship@elks.org.

Special Needs Children Scholarship Program:

Every year the NJ State Elks Special Needs Children's Committee awards two scholarships of up to $2,500 per year for four years. They are awarded to a graduating male high school senior and a graduating female high school senior from the State of New Jersey. Applications are sent to schools throughout New Jersey in early November and are due in by mid April. Click here for more information

Scholarship Manual