ROTARY/One College Scholarships

• ROTARY/One College Scholarships*
  The Rotary Club of Chicago (ROTARY/One) is requesting scholarship proposals from students attending a 2 or 4-year institution in the City of Chicago. The amount awarded per scholarships will be $1000. Scholarship monies must be used for university tuition, fees, and/or books. Checks will be made payable to the school.
  ROTARY/One Grant Objectives
  The objective of the ROTARY/One College Scholarships is to improve educational outcomes of students attending post-secondary school in the City of Chicago by providing support in students’ academic careers.

Eligibility
Eligibility criteria include:
● Current enrollment in a 2- or 4- year post-secondary institution located within the City of Chicago
● Completion of a minimum of 24 credit hours at a Community College, College, or University within the City of Chicago
● Minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale
● Documented evidence of prior community service with recognized groups, such as church and charitable organizations. Top preference will be given to applicants who have prior volunteer experience with any Rotary club worldwide
Exclusion criteria:
● This scholarship is not open to Rotarians or those with current Rotarians (within the last six months) as immediate family members
● Previous ROTARY/One scholarship winners

Submittal Instructions
Please email your application as a .pdf to rotary1grant@gmail.com. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. All applications must be fully completed; incomplete applications will be disqualified.

Usage of AI
**All information contained within the application is certified to be true and accurate to the best of the applicant’s knowledge. You must certify that no information in the application has been generated from an artificial intelligence source (e.g., ChatGPT). Should any information be found to be verified as fraudulent, your application will be immediately dismissed and you will be prohibited from applying for future Rotary1 scholarships or grants.

· Contents (in this order):
1. Basic biographical information. Include at a minimum your name, school, major, current residential address, contact e-mail, parental consent (if under 18), and contact phone number.
2. Resume
3. Service experience. In 250-350 words, explain your history of community service. Please respond to the following prompts:
a. What organization/cause did you volunteer with and for how long?
b. Why did you choose this organization/cause?
c. How did this experience impact you?
4. Need. Please discuss how this money will impact your ability to complete your degree.
5. Unofficial transcripts

Two letters of reference from non-family members. One letter must be from a faculty member at your current institution and one from an individual with direct knowledge of your completed service. If letters of recommendation are not included within the time frame, the application will not be reviewed. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure both letters are submitted on time.
a. Documentation of all reported service is required in the form of a hand-signed letter (scanned and uploaded into the portal). The letter must include the following information:
i. Dates of involvement
ii. Organization name
iii. Student role in the service project
iv. Phone number and email of the letter writer

Schedule
Proposals are due by Midnight CST December 1, 2025. Scholarship results are expected to be announced in January.
The ROTARY/One Community Service Committee reviews all scholarship applications and has final say on whether an application will be funded. The Committee may request further information on your proposal prior to approval.

Scholarship Limitations
Recipients of Rotary Foundation Grants are awarded funds to carry out the goals and objectives identified in this application. These funds are subject to certain regulations, oversight, and audit.
● Scholarship recipients are stewards of Rotary funds.
● Scholarship dollars must be used for their intended purpose.

It is required that scholarship award winners will use the awarded money for the purposes stated in this scholarship application. If there is any change, these changes must be communicated to Rotary1grant@gmail.com, and ROTARY/One reserves the right to re-evaluate and request repayment.

Visit our website for more information about ROTARY/One: www.rotaryone.org.
Questions
Please submit questions to Rotary1grant@gmail.com