Scholarships

BCF Scholarship Opportunities

Applicants will be asked to provide current transcripts. Applicants with financial needs should have their FAFSA or ORSAA filled out and ready for the application process.

With only a couple of exceptions, we offer opportunities for all graduates of Benton County high schools, primarily for the year they graduate, though some opportunities are available for previous graduates. We encourage all students to apply through our online application portal, which is open once per year in the January-February timeframe. Awards are given out to scholarship awardee student accounts at their accredited school during fall term. 

The Benton County Foundation annual scholarship portal accepts 2026 applications:
– For ROTC students: between December 1, 2025 – January 30, 2026
– For High School and College students using the Universal application: January 5, 2026 – March 5, 2026

2026 Scholarship Awardees will be announced in spring 2026 with payments to student accounts fall term 2026

If you have any questions, please contact Louise-Annette Burgess, Scholarship Manager at louiseannette@bcfgives.org or 541-753-1603 ext. 206.

Scholarships for Graduating High School Seniors

The Benton Community Foundation will be awarding over $132,330 this year in scholarships to graduating high school seniors from Benton County high schools.

Learn more about BCF scholarships for graduating high school seniors

Scholarships for Current College Students

Many BCF scholarships designated for current college students are available only to students at Oregon State University. Exceptions include the Corvallis Woman’s Club Scholarship, which is available to Benton County high school graduates attending any accredited institution of higher learning, and The Tailwinds Fund and Resilience scholarships, which are available to any college students.

Learn more about BCF scholarships for college students

Scholarships for ROTC

Nominees for ROTC Scholarships are selected on the basis of a recommendation by the respective ROTC Commander.  If you are an ROTC student at Oregon State University or its extension campuses, including, but not limited to WOU, Corban University, and OSU Cascade, see your ROTC Commander in January if you believe you are eligible to receive one of BCF’s ROTC scholarships.

Learn more about BCF scholarships for ROTC

Scholarships for Music Students

Learn more about BCF’s scholarships for music performance

For additional information concerning scholarships or Benton Community Foundation please contact the Scholarship Manager, Louise-Annette Burgess or your school counselor.

Scholarship Award Procedure

Scholarship award recipients must provide the name of the college/institution they are attending, proof of enrollment, and their student ID in the portal, by the follow-up form deadline, in order to receive their scholarship. After that date, the original recipient will forfeit their award, and attempts will be made to reach the alternate. 

Should plans change and the awardee no longer qualifies for the scholarship, please let us know promptly so that we might present the award to the alternate. Please log into the application portal to complete your scholarship acceptance paperwork.

Our scholarships are paid to student accounts at the accredited school/institution of attendance upon receipt of scholarship acceptance/follow-up form.

For additional information concerning scholarships at Benton Community Foundation please contact the Scholarship Manager, Louise-Annette Burgess or your school counselor.