Aurora Nonprofit Offers 200 College Scholarships, Extends Deadline

AURORA, IL — An Aurora-based nonprofit organization, Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, will award 200 college scholarships to Fox Valley area students.

Students now have until Jan. 10 — originally Dec. 9 — to submit their application following a one-time extension, officials announced. Students will hear back about decisions in early May.

"We recognize what a busy time of the year this is for students, their parents and our schools so we decided to offer a one-time extension of the scholarship deadline in order to give students more time to complete an application," Beth Christoffel, director of scholarships, said in a statement.

By completing one application, high school, college, graduate, trade and non-traditional students from the Aurora area, TriCities and Kendall County are eligible to receive one of as many as 200 different scholarships — totaling more than $1 million — for the 2023-24 school year.

Officials said many scholarships are based on financial need while others reward based on merit and academic achievement. Some are niche scholarships for specific fields of study, including at a trade school, and others are renewable for up to four years. The commonality with all is applicants must plan to attend an accredited post-secondary institution within the U.S. on a full-time basis.

The odds of getting a scholarship are "strong," officials said, citing a statistic that showed 50 percent of last year's applicants earned scholarships from Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley.

"For nearly 75 years, the Community Foundation has helped individual donors in the Fox Valley custom design funds that fulfill their charitable objectives, including hundreds of scholarships that support local residents interested in pursuing higher education," Christoffel said. "As a result, since our founding in 1948, CFFRV has awarded more than $20 million in scholarships through funds given by local citizens to enhance and support the quality of life in the Fox River Valley.

Just last year, more than 400 Fox Valley-area students received locally funded scholarships totaling almost $2 million, she added.

To find out exactly what school districts and cities are in the scholarship's service area and to read more about what scholarships are available, interested applicants can visit the foundation's website.