Scholarship Program
Education powers the leaders of tomorrow. And as a part of PEC’s ongoing commitment to youth and education, this year we will once again offer scholarships.
Last year, we gave $100,000 in scholarships to regional students. This year, we’re celebrating 20 years of scholarships by giving out an additional $20,000, bringing our total 2019 scholarships to $120,000. Learn more.
Scholarships range from $2,500 to $10,000 and can be used to pay expenses at any accredited university, college, junior college, technical school or trade school. Each scholarship recipient must be at the 12th grade level through public, private or home-schooled education, and the scholarship recipient’s parent or legal guardian must be a PEC member. Recipients will be selected based on their applications, including an essay, academic and/or technical skills, leadership, and financial need.
Requirements for Submission
When applying, entrants must be at the 12th grade level, either through private, public or home-schooled education. In addition to the online form, all components listed below are required to validate entry. Please have documents prepared in advance to avoid system time-out (standard of 45 min).
File formats accepted are Adobe pdf (.pdf) and Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
- Online form: Submit the application online.
- Essay attachment: Essay should not contain personal information. Attach when submitting online application.
Rules and Eligibility
No more than one entry per applicant may be submitted. Student’s parent or legal guardian must be a PEC member in good standing. Applications for the PEC Scholarship Program must be submitted online via the PEC website. Any applications submitted by mail or dropped off in person at a PEC office will not be accepted.
Online submissions with required documents must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on March 21, 2019, Central Standard Time. Any scholarship applications submitted with blank or incomplete documentation may result in ineligibility. PEC has the right to extend the scholarship program deadline when deemed appropriate.
All applicants will be notified on or before April 8, 2019. Winners will be expected to attend an awards ceremony on April 25, 2019, and the distribution of the awards will be announced at that time.
Scoring
Scoring will be based on two documents provided by the student: the applicant profile and the essay. The applicant profile accounts for 75 percent of the overall score, and the essay accounts for the remaining 25 percent.
The profile has three sections, outlined as follows:
Applicant Profile Evaluation: 75%
- Academic and/or Technical Skills: 25%
- Leadership (Motivation, Character, Ability & Potential): 25%
- Financial Need: 25%
Essays will be judged on content, originality, grammar, structure and grammar, as indicated below. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized.
Essay Topic
- “If you could change your community in a positive way (including your school), what specific changes would you make and why?”
Essay Evaluation: 25%
- Content: 10%
- Originality: 10%
- Structure & Grammar: 5%
Essays must be 500-700 words, double-spaced, 12-pt. Arial font with 1-inch margins.
Judging Process
Applicant profiles and essay submissions are evaluated in a fair and unbiased judging process. Judges are individually selected by the PEC Scholarship Fund Board and will consist of judges from the public and educational sectors. To ensure the anonymity of our participants, all personal information should be removed from the Essay Form; judges will not see personal information from the Applicant Profile. Applicants’ names are unknown to judges until after essays have been ranked and the contest results finalized.