CBAI Foundation Scholarships
Scholarship Sponsored by Community Bankers Association of Illinois
Overview
The CBAI Foundation for Community Banking awards a total of $21,000 in scholarships to outstanding high‑school seniors across Illinois through an essay contest. Each of CBAI’s geographic groups may forward one semi‑finalist. The Foundation is structured to distribute $1,000 scholarships to students in 11 of the 12 CBAI groups and to grant $500 awards to second‑place finishers in each group, ensuring winners are spread across the state. One statewide recipient will receive $1,000 per year for up to four years of postsecondary study, and the winning student’s high school will receive a $500 award. This program increases the likelihood that your bank will sponsor a winner.
Bank participation
There is no cost and no obligation for a bank to take part. Banks that do supplement the Foundation awards with their own local scholarships tend to see the greatest community benefit.
Who is eligible
- Applicants must be Illinois high‑school seniors graduating in the spring and planning to enroll in an institution of higher education in the immediate summer or fall term.
- Applicants must be United States citizens and residents of Illinois.
- Immediate family members of community bankers, bank directors, and part‑time bank employees are ineligible to enter on behalf of ANY CBAI member bank, regardless of that bank’s CBAI membership status. (The Foundation administers separate scholarship opportunities specifically for the children and grandchildren of community bankers.)
How winners are selected
Each participating CBAI member bank submits its students’ essays to the CBAI Foundation for Community Banking for evaluation. Essays are detached from their cover sheets and assigned numbers so that judges review entries anonymously, without knowledge of the student’s name, hometown, or sponsoring bank.
A Scholarship Committee composed of community bankers evaluates the submissions using published judging criteria. Scholarships are awarded based on point totals derived from those criteria.