The Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship is for high school seniors who are U.S. citizens. It is both a regional and a national scholarship with the same application! The 2026 MVS application closes on November 12, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.
Go check out the application and read more about it. It will send you to this ISTS page to apply. You will need to create an account, be sure it's an email you will check as that's how they notify the finalists and winners (through email). I suggest you making a new email address that sounds professional for your applications just so it looks more professional.
This application has an essay, requires a high school counselor report, a resume, and your grades list. It's lengthy but worth it! It's one of the first for seniors this year so go ahead and get everything together now so you have it for others as the year goes on.
Scholarships are available only to students who enroll in four-year undergraduate degree programs at accredited U.S. American colleges or universities.
Current high school seniors, or the equivalent, who are citizens of the United States are eligible to apply.
Applicants do not need to be related to a member of the Elks.
High school graduates are not eligible to apply.
Applicants must be citizens of the United States on the date their applications are submitted; permanent legal resident status does not qualify.
2026 Most Valuable Student Award Offers 500 Four-Year Awards for the 2026-27, 2027-28, 2028-29, 2029-30 Academic Years
Four-Year Total Award
No. of Awards
Total
First Place
$30,000
20
$600,000
Runners Up
$4,000
480
$1,920,000
Total:
$2,520,000
Many local Lodges, districts and state Elks associations award their own scholarships through this program. These scholarships are not to be confused with the 500 Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student Scholarships, but the application is the same.
Agriculture professors and crop consultants can nominate a student by completing the form linked below. Nominations are due by July 1, 2025.
ELIGIBILITY To be eligible, students must be nominated by a professor or crop consultant. The student must have also studied or worked in the agriculture industry between 2022 and 2024. Each student must be a senior in high school or currently enrolled in an agriculture study program at an accredited college or university. The highlighted regions in the map below indicate eligibility for the Southern Agriculture Industry Advancement Scholarship. Click and view, but TN is one of the highlighted states.
Have you ever looked around at Facebook for scholarships? I have found some in community groups, scholarship groups, been fed these as ads, and found just through searching for Tennessee scholarships on Facebook.
Here are the three that I mentioned in this video: GFWC Spring Station Women's Club - A $1000 scholarship to a graduating senior from Spring Hill or Thompson’s Station. Students from public, private, and homeschool are eligible to apply. Please review the attached document and follow the instructions. Deadline for application is June 1, 2025.
NickProject2020 - The Nicholas Oliver Memorial Scholarship is designed to empower high school graduates who aspire to pursue trade school education and make a lasting impact in their communities. This program provides financial assistance to students who have demonstrated a commitment to civic engagement, educational achievement, and extracurricular involvement. Must be a winter 2024 or spring 2025 graduating Senior in Rutherford County, TN.
Stegall Charitable Educational Foundation - Tennessee residents and applicants to Tennessee schools ONLY may apply for this $1,000 scholarship. Students with at least a 2.8 (on a 4.0 scale) cumulative high school G.P.A. (or its equivalent, to be submitted as a sealed transcript) or an 18 composite A.C.T. score (or its equivalent) for first-time freshman; At least a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. (on a 4.0 scale) for college upper classmen and transfer students with a need for financial assistance. The scholarship application deadline for the Spring Semester is December 1 and the deadline for the Fall Semester is July 1.
Check them out and keep looking! While many are awarding now, there's still a lot taking applications. Honestly, this is a years-long marathon, not a sprint. You got this!!!
Hyper local scholarship idea - political party, local scholarships! Be sure to search for Democrat or Republican local scholarships, Tennessee scholarships, regional scholarships, and if you use the word Tennessee or your County in quotation marks, it will bring up results with the items in quotation as a requirement. Here’s the one I was talking about in the video, but there are quite a few more if you just look around. Good luck!! http://www.tfdw.org
The Essential Visionaries Scholarship Fund offers renewable scholarships to students pursuing degrees or certificates in education, counseling, psychology, or nursing through college or vocational school programs. This program is dedicated to empowering future professionals committed to making a meaningful impact, particularly within K-12 school systems and healthcare fields.
Applicants to the Essential Visionaries Scholarship Fund must meet the following criteria:
Be high school seniors, high school graduates, GED graduates, or current college undergraduates residing in the United States (U.S.).
Attend a college or institution that:
Is not on warning or probationary status with the federal government.
Is not in litigation with the federal or a state government.
Be pursuing a degree or certificate* with a major in Education, Counseling, Social Work, Psychology, or Pre-Nursing/Nursing.
Applicants pursuing education, counseling, social work, or psychology must demonstrate a commitment to working within the K-12 system.
Nursing applicants are not required to demonstrate K-12 system involvement.
Have a minimum grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent).
Have you done your FAFSA yet this year? You have to do this every year you intend to go to school to qualify for federal student aid including federal student loans! Get all the way to getting your SAI number to confirm you finished.
