Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The Kosciusko County Community Foundation is now accepting applications for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship until Sept. 15, 2026.
This scholarship is a four-year, full-tuition scholarship that allows recipients from each participating Indiana county to attend an Indiana college or university of their choice.
Locally, the Kosciusko County Community Foundation recommends two recipients through a blind review process. Top applicants are submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana, the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, for the final selection.
When reviewing applicants, the Community Foundation considers criteria including academic excellence, community service, extracurricular involvement, work experience, references and essay responses. Eligible applicants must be:
• Kosciusko County residents who are a current high school senior and will receive their diploma from an accredited Indiana high school no later than June 30, 2027;
• Intending to pursue a full-time baccalaureate course of study at an accredited public or private nonprofit college or university in Indiana;
• Pursuing an academic and/or technical honors diploma at the end of their junior year of high school;
• Have a GPA of 3.8 or higher on a 4-point scale or 10.3 or higher on a 12-point scale at the end of their junior year of high school.
Students interested in applying should visit the Community Foundation’s scholarship portal at https://www.kcfoundation.org/scholarshipportal and complete the 2027 Merit Based Scholarships application.
Lilly Endowment Inc. created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1997-98 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling more than $505 million. More than 5,400 Indiana students have received Lilly Endowment Community Scholarships since the program’s inception.
The primary purposes of scholarships are: 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana Community Foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.
Kosciusko County Community Foundation Inc. is a public charity whose mission is to bring caring people and charitable endeavors together to inspire generosity and strengthen communities. The Community Foundation grants over $4 million annually in the areas of education, health, arts and culture, recreation, civic projects, environment and human services. Gifts made to the Community Foundation are tax-deductible. For more information, visit www.KCFoundation.org, call 574-267-1901 or visit 102 E. Market St., Warsaw.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J. K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, Lilly Endowment Inc. is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with its founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.
Since 1997, Independent Colleges of Indiana has administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program statewide with funding provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Founded in 1948, ICI serves as the collective voice for the state’s 28 private, nonprofit colleges and universities. ICI institutions employ over 22,400 Hoosiers and generate a total local economic impact of over $5.3 billion annually. Students at ICI colleges have Indiana’s highest four-year, on-time graduation rates, and ICI institutions produce 30% of Indiana’s bachelor’s degrees while enrolling 20% of its undergraduates.
